Sunday, October 24, 2004

Where's the landlord

There's a big hole in our ceiling because the guys upstairs with the big butts broke the toilet and the water dripped all day downstairs, so we called the landlord. And told him to fix it. So we went out to buy the stuff we need to fix that big hole in the ceiling because of the big water stain. It's times like this when it'd be nice to not be the landlord and not be the guys upstairs with the big butt.

Monday, October 18, 2004

*Sigh* it's Monday...

I thought about calling in sick just to play with my new sewing machine. I've wanted my WHOLE life! Seriously. When I was 10, I begged and begged my mom to get me a kid sized sewing machine, that actually sewed a simple straight stitch, I had seen in the toy store in Hong Kong. It was pink with flower stickers on it, it had a little light bulb that would go dim whenever you started sewing, and it came with all the little gadgets a little semstress would ever need. I sewed little bags and clothes for my dolls, I was even sewing on paper before any scrap-booker thought of it. I used it until, like most toys, my baby sister got ahold of it; parts got broken and pieces were lost. But it was a toy, so it wasn't going to last me till college, And since then, I've always wanted one of my own.
Like any childhood toy, you always think back and wonder, "whatever happened to that?" I think it may have got lost in the shuffle of moving.
Mark bought me this sewing machine as a late birthday present. I wanted to do my research to find one that would meet my needs at an affordable price. Sewing machines have come a LONG way. This one is almost completely computerized, has an LED light that doesn't dim when you sew, and comes with tons more of everything. I love the LED light, it's like the color of the Zenon headlights on a BMW! So cool.
Now, what do I sew first?

Saturday, October 09, 2004

Liew & Andrew


Liew & Andrew
August 5, 2004

I'm finally getting around to posting these. See pics here
There's more to come! DVD coming soon.
Posted by Hello

Casa de Jasper


See more pics of our house

Our house in the middle of the street, the one with the red door.
Oh look, its Car! The same car that won't let go of the license plate cover!
Bad, Car!!

this is an audio post - click to play


Audioblog from: YourFriendMark

It's Saturday again!

So it's been a while since I last wrote...
Update on the bathroom, "it looks marvelous darling!" It didn't look as great when I was putting the special glaze on. I kept washing off the glaze and starting over. But as it turns out, the stuff is pretty forgiving. In the end it looks like a pro did it, and our powder room looks like a hotel bathroom. :) Nice. I will take pictures tomorrow and upload them here. I forgot that I was supposed to take pics of our house for Mark to show to his mom. opps. Tomorrow is supposed to be a nice day in DC.
My latest adventure was my struggle with my arch nemesis, the screw on the license plate cover of our Camry. Naturally over time, metal screws will rust. This one however decided it was happy were it was and pretty much fused itself to the car. I had already been driving a few days without sticking the 2005 sticker on our license plate, and with how strict the cops are here, I wasn't about to go another day without the sticker on the car. So I fought and struggled with this certain screw. I even bent the screwdriver in my attempt to just crack its seal.
After a few attempts with multiple screwdrivers and a pair of pliers, I gave up. I was cold, late for work, and my hand hurt. I ripped that little sticker from its backing and slapped it right on to the clear plastic plate cover! At least I can't be ticketed for not having the sticker. I was told by a co-worker that it’s pretty much impossible to peel it off in one piece because it basically disintegrates as you pull on it. That's cool.
I guess I'll wait for Mark to get back from his trip to AZ to figure this one out. Meanwhile, I'll go to the DMV and ask for a new sticker.

I went to see Mark in AZ last weekend. It was so good to spend some time with Mark, even though the town of Sierra Vista next to Ft. Huachuca isn't all that exciting. AZ is fun for a visit, but long term is out of the question. There are too many creepy crawlies that could kill you. But they do have the most beautiful sun sets.
We visited our friends the Romneys in Phoenix (we used to be in the same ward in VA) on Sunday and watched General Conference on satellite with them and there little boy Jase. Jase is at that age where he’s personality is starting to shine from his little body. I’ve been around a lot of kids at 18 months and they are all so much fun. They just bought a cute little house out there, in a newly developed community with a lot of other LDS in the area. It’s not a bad place to raise kids, since they are pregnant again. Wow, we’ve got some catching up to do. : )
We also went to visit the Krouses in Tucson. They just barely moved out there from Mukilteo, WA where the evergreens are tall and the Puget Sound is blue. Big change. They moved into a really nice adobe styled home with an amazing view of the mountains. They’ve got quite a bit of land there and say they’ve seen jack rabbits, coyotes, scorpions, snakes, tarantulas, and wild boar that smell bad. They said that if your pet gets out, they’re pretty much goners. That’s so sad! I can’t live there always worrying about that’s out there. We had a good time visiting them and chatting. Mark helped them by figuring out how to turn the shower on in the tub. It’s weird you have to pull down on part of the faucet.

So things have been great. I love how things are going now. I’ve never traveled SO much in my life! I think a majority of our income goes to our housing and travel. Mark’s mom has been super generous to us. For our Christmas present she’s paying our way to Taiwan. Wow, thank you! I’ve never been and I still haven’t met Mark’s mom side of the family that still live out there. I’m taking Chinese classes now to get better at mandarin. I’ve done ok at listening, but speaking is another thing. The teacher is from mainland China so when I’m done with class I’m going to sound like I’m from Shanghai. : )

this is an audio post - click to play