Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Home repairs

Part of the "fun" of owning your own home is that when things break, instead of calling your landlord, you get to fix it! Thank heavens that I have a husband who has learned some handy skills, and has two handy brothers that can also help him. On Sunday, our garbage disposal got a hole in it, which meant that we could not use the kitchen sink at all. At first, we thought that we would be able to survive it all, but after a while, it became apparent that we couldn't. So Chris decided that the "ox was in the mire" and went to Home Depot with his brothers to get a new garbage disposal. He decided not to get the one that was one horsepower, and could munch small tree limbs, but instead got the one that was three-quarters of a horsepower. Now it can only munch small sticks. Anyway, they came home and installed it, and it was in business! Thanks Rusch boys! So then we ran the dishwasher, and found that it wasn't draining. I was pretty sure that this had something to do with the new garbage disposal, but Chris assured me that it didn't. Yesterday, he called his brother and found out that they forgot about something with the garbage disposal installation that would help the dishwasher be able to drain. So, Nathan, Chris's brother, came over yesterday and fixed that. Somehow, we also broke a light switch in the laundry room, but for $5, that was also fixed. Thanks to a great husband who fixes things for me! Stay tuned. . . we will soon get a new faucet in our kitchen! I am so excited! Yippee!
And on other notes . . . last night, we successfully took back all of the wedding presents that we could find places to exchange them for . . . at least for the time being until the Atlanta open house!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Some wedding pictures

My wonderful sister-in-law took some pictures at our reception the night before the wedding. They can all be found here. I really love the slide show! Here are some of my favorites:
Right before Chris saw me in my dress for the first time
And here it is!
Our niece--she and I were both princesses. We both loved it!
Our nephew, Jack
Cutting the cake
Talking with my brother
My brothers-- aren't they handsome? This picture is one of my favorites!

Friday, April 24, 2009

Hot dog griller

For Christmas, Chris got a gas station hot dog grilling machine. He told me that he got it, and I was, shall we say, excited. Actually, I wasn't at all. I thought it was kind of weird. This week, Chris's parents are in town for his brother's graduation, and they brought the hot dog griller with them. I have to say, when he took it out of the package, I liked it more than I thought I would. I can see how it would be cool for some kind of party or something. It looks like this:

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Colby Went to Jordan

Tina's brother, my brother-in-law, Colby, left for this morning for his four month study abroad program in Jordan. He will be practicing his Arabic in what I believe to be the most authentic way to learn a new language; speaking and living with and amongst native Arabic speakers.

While this is exciting for Colby, his trip to Jordan has special significance for Tina and me. You could say it was what pushed me over the edge and got me to propose to Tina.

Tina and I met in August of 2009 via LDS Singles.com. From the moment we met we began exclusively dating each other. By about November, Tina and I (well, mostly Tina) began talking and praying about marriage. I was kind of struggling as I had been single for so long and was actually kind of scared of getting married. I frustrated Tina to no end as days and weeks went by with no mention of my part about us getting married.

Well, December rolled around and with it Tina's Birthday, Christmas, and New Year's. All of them came and went with no proposal of marriage. Then, there was the drive back from Tina's parents' cabin.

While we were driving home from her parent's cabin after New Year's, I said to Tina,"Well, if Colby is leaving for Jordan April the 23rd, we should get married sometime before then." Tina was really happy. It was by far the most romantic proposal in the history of proposals since the beginning of time. To make things even better, I asked to talk Tina's father while they were unloading the Suburban at their house.

A few weeks later, once we had the ring, I properly proposed to Tina.

So Colby's study abroad trip has special significance for us. I must take this opportunity to say thank you Colby. Tholby (and combination of thank you and Colby).

Chris

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

On a scale of 1-10

Okay, Tina and I made up a new game you might like to play. It is great for starting conversations and otherwise just having a little bit of fun when you are in the car with another person. The game is called one to ten.

One to ten is simple, costs nothing, and extremely easy to play. Essentially you ask your friend to rate anything on a scale of one to ten with ten being absolutely amazing and one being a broken femur or napalm burning your skin off. You ask the other person to rate something and then explain why they gave it that rating. It might go something like this:

Tina: One to ten, Barnes and Noble
Chris: Hm, I'd say 6.
Tina: Why 6?
Chris: Well, ever since I got my library card, I have had a diminished desire to buy books, which diminished further after having to box up books I have never read and move them from one place to another.

I wouldn't say that one to ten is hours of fun, but I will confess it is quite amusing to play when you are driving on University Parkway and want to have a little fun. Another fun game is sneak the turkey out of Wal-Mart. At least that's what I heard. Has anyone played that game? If so, let us know.




Park City, Georgia, N.T. Wright

Tina and I were going to go to Park City this weekend but decided to cancel the trip because my parents are going to be in town for Matt's (my brother) graduation. We decided we wanted to spend time with them as opposed to going to Park City for a couple of days. We are going to reschedule the trip for sometime in May.

On another travel related note, we will be flying to Georgia next week for an open house my parents will be hosting for us. It will be a nice break from work and a good chance to get together with Georgia friends. There are lots people I am excited to see.

And, on another unrelated note, I have started reading a new book. I finished N.T. Wright's Surprised by Hope a couple of days ago and went through a period of mourning because I had finished a book I really liked. It is kind of sad when I finish a book I really like and have to find a new one. Thankfully the world is full of good books and my new favorite author, Wright, has written many books and articles. I think his books are so good that I will most likely give some of them a second or third read through.

Well, that is about it from me. Things are going well. Tina and I are adjusting to married life. We consider ourselves experts on marriage and if you have any questions, send them our way.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

What was in the drain of tub

One of the first things Chris said that he needed to improve when he moved in was fixing the drain. I hadn't noticed that it was bad, but he had. So, after work yesterday, he took apart a metal hanger and went after the offending muck. He found this. Needless to say, the drain of the tub works much better now. Hmmm. Weird.

Settled In

Tina and I feel so much more settled. Finally, all the presents are out the living room and in my car. Hopefully, they will be in storage soon.

Post honeymoon life is good/busy especially with the Georgia reception next week. It was quite a shock to our systems when we had to go back to work on Monday morning. This morning was not much better for me either but I am feeling fine now.

Being married has been a great blessing thus far. I never thought it would be this good or that I could love someone this much. We are really happy. I never thought I could be this happy, but am.

Well, back to work.

Chris

Monday, April 20, 2009

Our new ward

I am happy to report that we had a great Sunday in our new ward. We actually knew a handful of people there (well, Chris knew more than I did . . .) and everyone was really friendly and nice. While we were taking our Sunday nap, some men from the Elder's Quorum stopped by to pay us a visit, which was also very nice! I think that we are going to love it!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

The Honeymoon

We both think that in the history of honeymoons, ours was one of the best ever. It was a ton of fun! A lot of it will not be written, but some will . . .
We spent a night in Pocatello, then attended a ward in Pocatello on Sunday. After church, we drove to Salt Lake and spent a night at the Holiday Inn Express. We enjoyed a meal at Market Street Grill. On Monday morning, we flew to Disneyland and spent five fantastic days there in the park. We stayed right across the street from Disneyland, so we could go back to our hotel when it got hot and crowded. There was a spot where salesmen stood on our way back to the hotel. We think they were trying to sell some sort of timeshare. Every time we went there, they would try to stop us to sell us something. Finally, on our last day there, Chris told them that we were Eastern Orthodox and could not accept anything that they sold. I had to hide my face because I was laughing so hard!
We ate breakfast at Mimi's Cafe every morning that we were in California. We found a good trick to use at Mimi's--splitting meals. It is cost effective, and a good way to make sure that we didn't overeat. Half a breakfast was PLENTY of food for both of us!
We got a free pizza from the Pizza Hut in the hotel. We were so tired that we took advantage of it and loved it the first night!
We used FastPasses to our advantage. We very much learned how to use the FastPass system. We would go get a FastPass, then go on a ride that didn't have one, then when the time to get a new FastPass would come up, we would get a new one, then go on the original FastPass ride. It was a good system.



Chris got a new wallet. After 15 years, this is him saying goodbye to his old one. I think it was high time!

The Wedding

The day before we got married, we had the reception. A lot of people showed up to the Rose Shop in Idaho Falls. For a little while, the caterer was worried that there wouldn't be enough food! It was great to have the reception before, because we were able to go home, open presents, visit with family, and get ready for the next day.
It was a wonderful, even a perfect day. Chris had said that it would not rain, and, even though it fore-casted rain, he was right! We showed up at the Idaho Falls temple at 9:30 with our parents, and got the necessary paperwork done. At 10:30, we got married! Afterward, we took pictures for quite a while, and then went to the luncheon at O'Callahan's. Because we had the reception the night before, we left after the luncheon for the honeymoon. It was truly a spectacular day!

Here are some of my bridal pictures! The wedding pictures are still coming . . .