Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Welcome to the Family


On January 24th, much of Utah Valley experienced some freezing rain.  The moment the rain hit the windshield or the concrete it turned into ice, creating the illusion of just being wet when in reality it was all black ice.

On Mark's way to work at 7:45am, he was stopped at a light on University Parkway going towards I-15.  In his rear-view mirror he watched a couple blocks back as some cars get into an accident.  As he was thinking how thankful he was that it wasn't him, he got rear-ended by a car that slid on the ice.



Luckily, everyone involved was fine and Mark only had a sore neck the next couple days.  A couple days after the accident we went to the tow-yard and got everything out of the car and said our goodbyes.  Mark took me on our first date in that car!


While we waited to hear from insurance, we were given a cute Fiat to drive for a little over a week.  I loved this little car! It was a lot of fun to drive but absolutely TERRIBLE in the snow.



After a week of car shopping, we bought our new little family member: 
A 2005 Kia Spectra5



 We love it! It is a manual so I am learning and Mark is working hard at teaching me.


On our first day as insured car owners, we drove to Salt Lake for a lunch date to Gourmandise Bakery.   Mark has been craving this sandwich since the last time we went, 8 months ago: 
Curry Chicken Salad Sandwich!



While we were waiting for our food: Sometimes Mark lets me take pictures of him...

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

A Little Bit of Green in Winter

Back in October I found some seeds I had bought a while ago.  I had some soil from a school project and so I planted a few seeds.  I planted Daisies, Cosmos, Zinnias, and I was most excited about the Chives! A few days later I had cute little green plants for all of the flowers...and the chives never came in.

Left Pot: Chives, Center Pot: Cosmos, Right Pot: Daisies and Zinnias


I'm surprised at how long they have lasted, living on our tiny and cold windowsill.  I'm also surprised at how ridiculous they look 
3 1/2 months later:

The Cosmos just look like a bushy and friendly weed:


The Daisies look like a tangle of stems at the base of the Zinnia with one TINY flower:




And the Zinnia's flower is really pretty...




But it's a little ridiculous how tall it is!  
Are they supposed to be that tall!?  

I've enjoyed having my green friends to keep me company this very cold and snowy winter!

Monday, February 4, 2013

My excuse for neglecting our blog...

Here is a story.  I will claim that this is the reason I have not been blogging as of late.  At least it is what I tell myself.  In my opinion, there are few blogs/blog posts that are exciting without pictures and my ability to capture our life with pictures has been very difficult over the past 6 months!  It will most likely be very boring to all of you but I would still like to record it for my sake because it has been such a battle for me! Here is my very boring, frustrating, long, and eventually victorious story about my battle for a camera...

June 2010: I bought a digital point-and-shoot camera from Sears.  A great little Sony that served me well and took decent pictures and video.  


November 2011: The camera begins to act up.  When I would try to switch modes, the camera would sometimes freak out and jump from video to picture to video to picture to video to picture...and so on for about 30 seconds until it would finally pick one.  The camera still worked fine, did the job, and took great pictures so I wasn't too bothered.

December 2011: I was home for Christmas and I vaguely remembered that when I purchased my camera I had also paid for the Sears extended 2-year warranty.  My mom and I went to Sears and spent a long time there waiting for an employee as they tried to find information on the warranty.  They eventually came back with a pamphlet and told me to call the number on the back. I called the number and the Sears warranty service looked up my name, phone number, and address and told me that because I was not in the system, I must not have purchased the warranty.  

Now, I was PRETTY sure that I had but I could not find any proof of it.  It was a little annoying but like I said, my camera still got the job done with only a little frustration.  

July 2012:  My camera had been getting worse but was still very usable.  Mark and I had been married for a little over a month and in preparation of moving, I was doing lots of organizing.  As I was going through our file box, I found a pile of receipts and in this pile was my receipt for my Sony camera!  This was seriously SUCH a miracle.  On the receipt it showed that I had, in fact, purchased the 2-year warranty.  BUT, it also showed that I had made the purchased EXACTLY 2 years ago in July...just two days later than the day I had found the receipt.  I had two days to act on my warranty before it expired! 

I tried calling Sears to find out where I should take my camera and no one knew.  So I went to the nearest Sears, explained my situation, and they sent me to the Sears repair center just a few miles away.  I turned in my camera and the people at the repair center were super helpful and nice.  I just figured that since it was free, I might as well get rid of this annoying stuff my camera was trying to pull.  They said it should be back within 2 weeks.  

August 2012:  I got an automated voicemail from the repair center saying that my camera was in and ready for pick-up.  I went in and after searching the store for it, the girl discovered that my camera had actually been sent to the WRONG place and had to be re-sent to a place that carried the right parts.  It would be 2 more weeks.  I went in after I got another automated voicemail after another couple of weeks, and my camera was actually still in transit...I would have to wait one more day...I just really wanted my camera back so I could start recording my married life and work on my blog!

I got my camera back and all seemed well for a few days.  It was taking pictures and not freaking out at all.  Then, when I wanted to take a video, I realized that the slider (to change the mode) on the right side would not move at all!  I didn't want to force it and break it so I took it back to the repair center and off went my camera again.  August 31st I sent it off for 2 more weeks.  

September 18, 2012:  I went into the repair center to pick up my camera.  Having learned a lesson, I went out to the car and checked my camera before I drove off. The slider was now sliding...but the mode was not changing.  The camera was stuck in picture-taking mode no matter how much I tried to change it. The repair center apologized and told me to go to the nearest Sears and see if I could get a replacement card from them.  This would give me the worth of my camera toward a new one.  I went to Sears and after talking to 4 different employees, the manager told me he could do nothing for me. I went back to repair center and they apologized and sent my camera off again.  By now, me and all the employees of the repair center were on a first-name basis.  

October 8, 2012:  My camera was back and so I went in to pick it up, again.  Again, I checked to make sure it was actually working, and AGAIN it was not. This time the slider was still sliding but the camera was now stuck in video mode and would not change!  I was so fed up! If it had not been for the kindness and humor of the employees at the repair center I would have been significantly more upset.  They sent my camera back for the FORTH time and told me I would be getting a call for a replacement card.

A few days later, I got that call and another week later I had a Sears replacement card for $130 towards a new camera!  I kept it on the fridge so I would not lose it and when I finally went to look at cameras at Sears I stuck it in my purse.  At Sears I remember pulling it out and showing it to an employee there but I was not ready to make a decision, so I put it back in my purse and went home....and could not find the replacement card anywhere!!!  ****Now, this part is really embarrassing.  I feel ridiculous for having misplaced $130 and was so sick about it.  I felt soooooo stupid.****

I tried calling the replacement card place back, and left them a message explaining that I had lost my card and if possible, could they send me another one?  I got a voicemail from them while I was at work in which the girl said "We got your voicemail...it looks like you have been cleared for a replacement card....and it looks like we sent you one.  If you have any other questions or concerns, please give us a call."   Seriously?  

EIGHT more times would I call and leave messages.  EIGHT more times did I hear their answering machine that said "Leave us a message and we will call you back as soon as possible."  EIGHT more times did I have to repeat my name, phone numer, repair-tech number, and admit my stupidity.  In total, I waited THREE months without getting a single call in return....

January 20th 2013:   Mark and I were talking and he told me to call ONE more time.  I called and left the same message I had left eight times before.  Three hours later, I received a call in return...but missed it because I was sleeping.  I immediately called back and SOMEONE ANSWERED.  I could not believe it....I explained my situation to him and his response?  "Oh of course we can send you another card. It should be there in 5-7 business days."  I told him he had made my day.

So while waiting for the card to arrive in the mail, I did my research and decided on a camera, which happened to be $70 off until Saturday!  Friday, I checked the mail about 7 times...and around 4:00 it appeared in the mail box!  I immediately went to Sears, afraid that if I waited, my luck would cause the replacement card to spontaneously combust into flames.  After talking about cameras with a few very helpful employees, I purchased a new camera!!!  It only took a little over a year...

I know that when we eventually have kids, I will want a good camera.  However, I am no photographer and don't want to be too confused by a camera.  So I purchased a simple SLR camera...the Canon Rebel T3.  I still have a lot to learn about it...but I should be blogging more often now and with pictures!  




There must me opposition in all things, right?  If it hadn't have been for that crazy frustrating battle, I don't think I would be so excited over this new camera!