Toit Nups

I forgot to mention that we had Roger's truck in the shop again and it looks like the issues were totally fixed, but we'll see. Now we just have to get my other car officially figured out. I'm hoping the guy that redid our engine will just do some tune-ups for free since the problems are new since the "fix". 

We were shorthanded for VB this week, but Rog had a good time at basketball AND made it for a short congratulatory visit to his aunt's house since Becky got her buffalo! It's a big boy. But good on her - lots of hard work and sleepless nights and stress, and now their freezer is more than full. Anyways, THEN Rog was also able to put some laundry away and do dishes and get to bed at a reasonable time. 

All that so he could wake up at 4am to go on a work trip down on the Colorado. This time, it's only 10 days, which he's grateful for. After his month-long trip, he was a little disoriented upon return, but very happy to shower. 

Since he's gone, I've had a great time by myself - taking up the entire bed, eating girl dinner, and just having a lot of time to think and work on projects or read or whatever. Rog and I agree that we like hanging out, but we also like being away from each other, which is super nice. 

I did tell Sabrina that I would actually go to the RS activity this week, mostly to support her since she's in charge. We were making hygiene kits for a local charity for women. I don't mind doing the work, but the part I really don't like is where you have to small talk to people. (Which is the part everyone else likes). 

Classic wedding selfie.

We had a final girl's night with everyone who could make it - Al, Rachel, and Kailan at Oregano's. We got some snacks and pazookies and had a good time hearing some crazy stories before Rachel moves to Utah and Kailan goes to Ecuador and moves to Idaho. All good things, but I'm glad we had this group. 

 Saturday, I made a brief trip to the store on my way down to Phoenix to pick up some more allergy meds. Cenita & Colton had a short civil wedding ceremony and a good time hanging out with all their family. They looked great in the bright colors - which are totally her vibe. They had some delicious food and pies that we enjoyed. I hung out with her grade school friend Sophie and her brother Kaleb, and her parents Kris/Brian (who are absolutely delightful). I helped clean up after and came home with at least 3 weeks worth of food (for me), so some of that will add to our growing freezer supply. 

Rog is always worried when he leaves that I won't feed myself and he'll come back to a shriveled husk of a human. But that's mostly because he doesn't believe in girl dinner. Anyways, I'm set for a while - and also got several meal invites for this week from the ward since he left me "a widow". Take that, Rog. 

Banquets & Burritos

After getting back to AZ, I had a long short week. Work was a lot, gym was a lot. And I had plenty of extra-curriculars to keep me busy. (And watermelon, because 'tis the season). And books, because I just traded with Kelly. 

I went to "support" Rog at his softball game. He wasn't playing, to be clear. He is the assistant coach for a bunch of 6y olds. They are not good. But apparently, so much better than the start of the season, so good on them. It was cold and rainy (after being balmy 70's and sunny the last few weeks). And nobody wins those games, but they did institute outs this game, so that was new for them. 

The famed taco truck. 

Rog and I went to look at a few more houses with our friend and realtor, Cole. We found one that we really liked - kind of secluded 3 bed 2 bath with covered porches, a shed, a detached garage with a workshop room. But we're still working on getting the numbers right as far as monthly payments since interest rates are crazy. (And secretly hoping one of my older patients will just donate their house/property to me upon their death.)

We did end up hitting up a food truck we've been hearing good things about and other than the very last bite (which was the hottest bite of them all) the chile relleno burritos were TDF. Thanks for the tip, Becky. 

Another one for the books. 

Saturday my swimming session was cancelled for pool renovations, so boo to them. But we did go to the Mule Deer Banquet in Wiliams with a bunch of people from Roger's work, our landlords, and a bunch of people from Page. Our table ended up being a good one - going home with 4 guns, a fishing pole, a gun case, a 7 day vacation stay in Vegas for 2, some freeze dried meals, and a Buddy Heater between 8 of us. We won the Buddy Heater, which was the one we really wanted, so that was nice. And it's all for a charity that Rog really believes in, so I'm happy to gamble for this cause only. 

Colorado

On the gym front, things were good. We played some good VB, had some good lifting sessions, and even figured out how to get rid of some issues I was having (thanks, PT). Rog is coaching the 6y old girls through their softball season as the pitcher and it's getting better. 

Made it to Colorado

There were a couple more monumental things that happened this week. Like I bought ice cream and then our freezer stopped working and I spilled the liquidy mess all over the floor when I was trying to get it out. (I think it's fixed now, but so much for my rule of portioning it lol). We ended up drinking milkshakes with whatever was left. AND my basil plant is still alive, we have a new raspberry sprout coming up, but they are also in the same pot and I think the basil will lose eventually. 

Visiting the alpacas. Note the hat. 

I "hosted" a bach party for my friend Cenita who's getting hitched at the end of the month. It was a fun little gig with dinner and drinks at our favorite Mexican place. Then we went back to hers for games & gifts. 

Airport crew for the dropoff. 

Saturday, I woke up early for my flight to CO, arriving at 4:30 for a 6am flight, losing a pocket knife, and barely making it to the gate on time due to some CRAZY lines (retrospectively, probably for mother's day weekend). But after sitting on the tarmac for a while with the plane equivalent of a "check engine" light on the dash, we ended up getting off. They didn't cancel it and gave priority to people with connecting flights for changes. 

The weekend winner. 

I ate breakfast and sit and read and when the new 8:45 departure time changed to 1:30, I was able to change my flight to an 11:50 departure AND get on standby for a 9:45 flight - which I was the last one to be able to board. I got to Denver by noonish, which was better than what it could've been. 

Solitaire is too "borin'"

I ended up chilling at the house for a while and chatting before Kelly and I left for some French cuisine (which the Chin backed out of, due to a Celtics game). We had some beets, bread with baked Brie, chicken, and creme brulée. It was all good, although we could've used more bread and I'm not sure how actually authentic it was. 

Finding our restaurant. 

The highlight of the weekend, was learning about the Chin's no sugar diet. If you're wondering, this somehow includes cookies, pie (lemon, PB, and oreo ice cream), any juice you want, and cereal for breakfast as long as you don't ADD sugar. Hilarious. 

Classic. Still not sitting with the fam after all these years. 

He did do us a solid by cooking a mother's day feast - with prime rib, salad, broccoli, mashed potatoes, and those 3 types of pies that had been previously "tested" and had their edges "cleaned up". I became the Uno King and MGH learned how to play a modified version of Solitaire. 

Meanwhile, Rog got his bird. 

Most of the weekend was nice just being not an adult for a minute. And it was also nice that my flight was free (with reward points) and Scrumb Bum Lavinia didn't eat my blanket. And I called dibs on her carpet with Mama Sama on board for it. 

Mama B's back in biz

A largely uneventful week filled with work and sports and more work. I had a good pickup volleyball session on Monday while Rog played basketball. I went to the gym while Rog had 2 softball games for the 6y olds he coaches (where they usually play 2 innings where everyone hits and nobody keeps track of points). 

Hiking.

In some of my spare time, I've been working on my Etsy study guides again, getting ready to add some new ones in. I've also been reading - 2/3 of the way through the Defy trilogy by Larson (which is ok) and finished Fairy Tale by Stephen King. I'm not really a horror fan, so I was leery of this, but it had a happy ending and was really just more realistic than magic and fairies and nobody getting bloody. Would recommend. 

Cheese balls and Garlic Bread.

We went to Oregano's, where Rog caught up with his friend Hunter who works nights as a waiter there. The best new thing we tried was fried cheese curds, aka cheese balls, aka gourmet mozz sticks. Delicious. 

The weekend was one for sleeping in and reading some more. We also went on a little hiking adventure in the aspens and stopped by our favorite burger joint in town - Mama Burgers. It just reopened after the owners took a year hiatus to do some renovations and the shakes are just as good, although a little more expensive. 

Classic.

We had dinner at Carol's house with the missionaries (since our missionaries won't meet with us and her husband was out of town scouting for buffalo). We had some delicious enchiladas and watermelon and stayed to visit for a little bit after. 

The other adventure of the week is house hunting. Loosely. We found a 5-acre plot in an ideal location for $100K which is UNHEARD of in this town (vs. $200K for 8000sq ft, which is low end of normal). At first we thought this was a great deal for some dirt to build on, but turns out it's in the flood plane and would be VERY costly. We also went to look at a house with a realtor friend of ours, listed as a 2bed/2bath for $360K that will probably actually be better off getting destroyed with all the work it needs. (Seriously). We aren't in a hurry and I'm still half convinced that we're not going to find anything workable price-wise in this town, but we're in the market loosely.