Date Night!

We are on our way out to dinner, just thought I would document our date outfits. We both have on jeans  from the same company and plaid button up shirts.  When I saw that Bob had on the same outfit I tried to change, but he wouldn't let me, haha. Gotta love marriage- you become a little bit more like the other person every day! Hope I don't start growing a beard...

Well, so much for that

After having some issues with the high fruit diet, I think this marks the day we officially fell off the wagon.  The new pizza roll flavors clinched it for Bob, I think.

I would say something about moderation, but he bought six eight bags. 

Talk soon,

Emi

I did it!

Sorry for the pauses, I didn't think of what to say before I started filming.  I didn't mention everything just to keep it from being an hour long. Hope it was nice for our faraway family to see our new place!

Click Me!

Love,

Emi

Need a rain check

I've had a bad head ache since last night so I won't be doing a video today, but I have the day off on Sunday and Monday so one of those days I will post it up.  Here are some pictures if our dinner a few night ago to make up for it. It was my first attempt at potatoes fondant, and we had some sweet BBQ chicken meatballs with it and a simple salad. Then I made a sort of strawberry tart thing, using some almonds and cookies for the crust, sliced strawberries In the middle, and a topping of "whipped cream", which is actually whipped coconut cream with sugar and vanilla. After a few fails with the coconut, I found out I have to almost freeze the can of coconut milk to get the fatty cream to separate and thicken enough to use. It isn't as stable as traditional whipped cream and needs to be eaten cold, but it tastes fine and helps with dessert cravings. Unfortunately, my photography skills are still less than stellar. My Dad teaches photography in high school, but nothing has rubbed off on me as of yet.  Oh well.  

Have a good night!

Love, 

Emi

It's a baby!

Look what we found at the market today while perusing the "exotic" fruit section.  It's so cute I started squealing and made Bob take a picture.  Ignore how I look, we had just finished at the gym and I was in need of a long shower and a hair brush.  Dramatic pause for effect...

...

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                 Tadah!

It's a baby pineapple! If they had been less expensive ($6 a piece) we would have bought one (or a hundred), but that isn't in our budget at the moment.  So I sadly left them behind for another day.  We did get a lot of other fruits that I am excited to dig into. Our casaba is so ready to go it is sticky on the outside! We are still on our new diet, trying to eat as little dairy as possible and limit junk foods.  We had a relapse this weekend during a visit with friends, it's hard to kill old habits and so much celebration food is either full of cheese or cream or butter.  Plus Bob has an almost Pavlovian craving for frozen yogurt whenever we see this friend, it's pretty cute. But now that we are home we are back on the horse and feeling better for it.  

     I finally have the apartment almost the way we want it, so hopefully after a little tidying on Friday I will be able to put up a post to show how it looks.  I'd like to post a video but we will see if that's possible or not, I haven't tried before.  Hope everyone is having a good week!

Love, 

Emi

So so sorry!

     I haven't updated in months, I'm really sorry. Part of it was just being busy, but a lot of it was me being lazy.  Bob and I have both been working a lot, did I mention I got a new job?  I work at a popular toy store/ baby products store.  Usually I'm in the baby department, and it has been really fun so far.  TONS of cute babies to coo at every day, and I get to help people pick out gifts and set up baby registries all day.  

     Of course there is cashiering and cleaning, and I get the occasional grumpy Gus, but I have fun almost every day.  I even got a raise already! 35 whole cents...it sounds a little less impressive when I say the amount but it was nice anyways, my first raise at a "real" job ( I got raises as a babysitter/nanny but that was so much more personal and intimate, it's a different situation).    

     Unfortunately, as much as I like my job, I've just started working towards getting a new job.  I have the closing shift a few nights a week, and Bob and I are both getting tired of me getting off work after 10pm, especially because he rides his bike over to pick me up when I work nights.  And I feel really awkward trying to push people to sign up for credit cards. As a person  currently in debt, why would I want to help someone else get into debt themselves? Especially our less affluent customers, or those whose English isn't very good.  The whole idea makes me feel very guilty.  

     One other problem with working retail is the schedule.  It hasn't made too many problems for us, given our natural reclusive tendencies as a couple, but knowing when I work and don't work more than two weeks in advance would be great.  Bob works a regular Monday through Friday schedule, 8a.m. to 5pm. (often six p.m.though).  I could work from 9-5, 10-2, 5-10 or 2-10, any day of the week.  Again, not a big deal, but if  we could both have weekends off together, just to relax or go to Sacramento for more than eight hours, that would be very nice.  

     So, in response, Bob bought me some typing software so that I can learn correct form and pick up speed.  I'm hoping I can get a simple administrative assistant job sometime in the next few months, start making at least $10 an hour again, and get off work in time to make dinner again.  When I use the correct fingers for each letter, I type about 10 words per minute, which is both laughable and depressing, but with time I will get better.  My goal is to get up to at least 60 words per minute, but 100 words per minute would be awesome.  That's about my reading speed, I just need to get the muscle memory going  so my fingers catch up to my eyes. 

     We rejoined the gym, 24 hour fitness again, and as usual Bob is perfectly skinny again and I've lost MAYBE two pounds.  It's slow going, but feels good.  We are in the process of changing our diet as well, we've cut almost all dairy out, are lowering meat and severely limiting  processed foods.  Our budget doesn't quite match up, as fruits and veggies can be expensive, but luckily two of my favorite foods are very cheap, and whole grains! White rice and homemade popcorn help a lot.  I miss everybody tons, but we are doing well so I hope no one has been worrying about us.  Love, Emi

ps here's the Father's Day card I made for my Dad. He wasn't feeling well today so we didn't get to see him, but next weekend hopefully I will be able to give it to him in person.  I found the idea for the front on a blog, and thought it was a great fit because he read The Hobbit to me twice as child.  Thanks, Dad! (The inside reads: "You are not nearly short enough, and your feet are only half as hairy.  You don't even eat second breakfast! Alas, you make a very poor Hobbit indeed. Luckily for us you make up for that by being an awesome dad. Happy Father's Day! Love, Bob and Emily".)

Where we are

I suppose it's time, for those that I haven't been able to update over the phone or in person, to hear about where we are/what we are doing now. Bob began working at the new dealership this Monday. Just in case he signed some sort of non-disclosure/no social media agreement I won't put the name here. But it rhymes with oats flagon and dottie Ahem. Anyways, Bob really likes it at "Oats-flagon and Dottie", everyone has been very nice to him so far and, unlike the other dealership in Arizona (which will from now on be referred to as it-which-must-not-be-named), they are actually training him. By this I mean there is a real human being taking time to stay with Bob during the day and show him how things are done. Just fantastic. Not to mention he is getting the hours he was promised, is not fighting for a bay, and hasn't seen any of the illegal/unethical practices that he witnessed at it-which-must-not-be-named. I'm so happy that he is happy.
All of that said, the work is difficult, and the learning curve is steep so he feels like a giant noob all over again. I think it's cute.
As for me, I'm still trying to find a job. I'm sick of the job search, after all I JUST got done doing this back in Arizona. The good news is there are loads of jobs available in San Rafael; almost every street I go down has a "now hiring" sign somewhere on it. I got some great help with my résumé, and I even have a second interview tomorrow at a "soys tar bus". Wish me luck!
We are currently living in an extended stay in San Rafael, a few miles from Bob's dealership. It sounds about as exciting and fun as it is, but at least we have a place to sleep and we don't have to commute from Sacramento every day. One cool benefit from staying here is the mini-kitchen we have. It is set up like a basic hotel room, but then near the door we have a full-size refrigerator, a microwave, a small cooktop, a toaster, a coffee maker, and cabinets. While looking in those I found a pot and pan, three big plates, three small plates, three bowls, three mugs and three cups. There is also a drain rack, silverware, a cutting board and a spatula and spoon. I took pictures for your viewing pleasure. Now for those wondering why we would stay in a hotel for THREE WEEKS (help me!) instead of moving into an apartment I would like to say: we tried. We really did. But as it turns out, San Rafael is not only a place of great job opportunities, it is also a place of zero available apartments. At least anything within our timeframe and/or budget. We got lucky and found a studio about a mile and a half from Oats-flagon and Dottie for the bargain price of $1,100 a month, but it won't be available until the first week of March. Eggroll is staying with her grandparents until we can move in. I call them her grandparents because it drives my Dad nuts. Hehe.
Goodnight!

Silly

I have so many updates that it's a bit overwhelming. So here's some pictures of what Bob and I ate for lunch today.

To San Rafael and back

We drove to San Rafael today to get a few errands done. We rented a storage unit to hold what belongings we kept, and Bob dropped his tools off at the dealership. We are having fun seeing all the differences between Arizona and California. Bob was given his drug test today (it's done by mouth swab)and they didn't charge him a penny; back in Arizona he was charged $28! What makes it worse is while at the dealership today they told him the tests only cost them $3...curious indeed. We looked around at apartments for the rest of the day and found one that will be available in early March. It looks like a good fit, a nice area with inexpensive rent and the management was responsive. Mostly though, I have just been wowed by the beauty here. After two months in nothing but dusty brown and faded beige, all this greenery is like eye-candy. And California isn't even the most lush state out there! T
We had to get rid of a few pieces of furniture [the nasty old couch is gone woohoo! I mean...um... :-( ] and tried to take them to Goodwill but they weren't able to accept them. We found the dump nearby and dropped ( literally dropped, we had to throw them off a little ledge) them off there. It cost $59, but was otherwise a fun experience to have. There was a small mountain of tree branches and leaves to one side, and a forklift shuttling various bits of trash to separate piles. Then in the middle, a huge blue structure with men sorting the refuse out by hand.
Glad to be back in Cali and moving forward, get to see some of my babies tomorrow!

Moving back, day 2

We stopped in San Bernardino last night and stayed at a La Quinta. Eggroll was happy to be out of the car but she got a little bit too excited and kept us up part of the night with cuddle attempts. There was a seafood restaurant near the hotel with a funny name. We should be in Sacramento by dinner time, can't wait to be done; I think we are all ready to relax and unwind after sitting cramped up I'm this truck.

I guess I'm a bit older than I thought

Received this in the mail, think they may be a bit confused.

We made it!

We arrived it Sacramento! We are tired and our bums are sore but we made it. I'm sure we will sleep well tonight.

Made it to California!

Passed over the border and heading towards LA! We got inspected at the California Agricultural Inspection station , and when asked if we had any fresh fruit or produce Bob answered "I have some pretzels".

Moving back, day 1

Well we are all packed up and ready to go, my Dad flew down to help us pack and take turns driving with Bob. Eggroll is having more trouble this time but we are hoping she will calm down and take a nap soon. I will keep updating as things happen!

As fun as a barrel of..crackers?

Bob and I went to Cracker Barrel a few nights ago for dinner. It was my first time and I admit to not entirely understanding their business model. There was furniture for sale out front, and to get into the restaurant you have to walk through the Cracker Barrel store. I imagine it used to be styled more as a "general store", but now amid the old-fashioned sodas and candies sit modern children's toys, clothing, cat toys, and other seemingly random trinkets. Once seated though, our waitress was nice and the food thoroughly southern, plentiful, and yummy.
We felt a little out of place, besides a few grandchildren we were the youngest diners there; the median age was around 65. We played a little game while we waited for our order and shared a sampling of their more popular dishes. All in all it was a fun visit.

Bob's Birthday!

Bob turned 26 today! We both had to work so it wasn't quite the fun day it should have been, but we did make sure to go out to P.F. Changs for dinner (our first time ever, somehow). We both loved a lot of the interior, and will probably end up stealing a few tips when it comes time to decorate for ourselves. I took a picture of him in front of the restaurant.
Only a week and a half left here in Arizona, and the idea of being back in Sacramento is starting to feel surreal. I can't decide what I want to do first when we get back. So many people to see! I know it hasn't been very long since we left but as usual I'm getting a bit sensitive and squishy about it.
Having trouble making a hyperlink, not sure if it is just me or if writing this on a phone has to do with it but if you copy this link ( http://youtu.be/rLw-9dpHtcU ),
ignoring the parentheses, and then paste it into your browser, you can see a really funny video of a spider. Or just look up "hiding spider voice over" on YouTube.

Time to pack... again

So it's official, we are moving back to California! We leave for Sacramento on February 1st, and will be staying with my parents for a few weeks until we can find an apartment we like in San Rafael. I can't wait to see everyone and be around green things again.
In other news, I tried some goat's milk the other day to see if I would like it, and it was very tasty! Not at all "goaty" or sharp-tasting. The milk was sweet and flavorful, and probably very close to the flavor of cow's milk, although it has been so long since I have had cow's milk that I can't say for sure. The price was a little high, around $4 for a quart, but I imagine if one could find a local source it would be more reasonable. We will probably stick to almond milk for now, but I am glad to have found another option.
Had a great visit with my cousin tonight, always nice to catch up and see how family is doing. She and her husband live in another state, but she came down here for school and luckily her schedule allowed us to see each other.
Goodnight!
Ps- below are pictures of the goat milk ad a cool car I saw on the way home the other day.

Moving Again?

  Yep, you read that right, we might be moving again soon. At least, we hope so.  Arizona hasn't been working out in our favor.  Bob is making half of what he thought he would be, and the promise to move him to line tech within a few weeks seems to have been forgotten.  My job at the hotel is still good, but I miss California and Bob got an awesome offer to work in San Rafael.  We love the area, after all it is where we got married.  We are still waiting to get the offer in writing (never making that mistake again!), and hopefully will be out of here soon. Miss you everybody.
  Here is a picture of a tiny squash