Trevor got a new job last week, but before that, he was out of a job for a week. So that, combined with our horrible budgeting skills, made it so our planned trip to Ohio for our anniversary had to be postponed indefinitely. Ultimately, that meant we had to come up with something terrific to do for our anniversary with only 2 weeks to go. I told Trevor since I planned last year's, he had to plan this year's (but that was pretty much because I felt devoid of all ideas).
So, instead of Tuesday of last week being our last day of work for the week, we had to suffer through Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday before we could start having fun :( With Trevor's new work schedule, he is scheduled to work every Saturday. He was able to get our the Saturday of our anniversary off though, so that basically meant it was our last weekend of no work in sight. I decided because of that, we would celebrate our anniversary the ENTIRE weekend instead of just the day of :)
Since I got off work at 12 on Friday, and Trevor had to GO to work at 1, we decided we'd have lunch together; yay! We went for Chinese food, which is probably the best. It felt nice to eat out and just be together during the work day again (we used to have lunch together quite often before Trevor's last job--and before our new budget). Then I trecked my way home to clean everything up and wrap the "presents" I got for Trevor. We'd pretty much agreed we weren't going to get eachother stuff, instead we'd just splurge on things we could do together over the weekend, but since when do I really care about agreements like that? Earlier that week I'd gotten all his favorite treats and dessert fixin's and I wrapped them individually so it seemed like a lot of special stuff. I think it was okay to get all the stuff because it wasn't just for him, you know? We got to make the cake together, and eat it together, so it worked out. Let's see, there was the chocolate fudge cake, the chocolate frosting with sprinkles (Trevor gets cravings for birthday cake...), two cook-and-serve chocolate Jello puddings (we LOVE those), two Heath bars (Trev's obsessed), EL Fudge cookies (yet again, Trevor has an obsession), Cheezits (just plain good), white chocolate chips, and of course--Mountain Dew. Pretty much all the junk food we need for an entire month, but really will only last for a week.
So, after unwrapping all the goodness, we decided we had to have pizza. Ordered from Papa John's and watched Jumper. I thought it turned out to be better than every one said. Not exactly the BEST movie ever, but entertaining at least. Being full and excited for the next day, we didn't stay up too late (after doing a crap load of laundry).
Saturday = Zoo Day! Woot! We have been trying to go to the zoo since the first blossom of the year, but it just has not worked out. So, of course, the day we actually plan, and settle for going without friends, Mother Nature decides to make it the rainiest day in the history of Utah. Something about storms in the Pacific...Idunno. All I know is that it was raining when we woke up, and we were in denial. After a casually getting ready while catching some general conference here and there, we packed up our stuff, zipped up our jackets, and got in the car to head to the zoo. We weren't exactly sure how to get there since I forgot to print off the directions while I was at work (grr, we can't even steal internet from our neighbors anymore). So we headed on I-80 going east while I tried to use my mad cell phone internet skills to get directions. Totally didn't work in time, and we missed the incredibly hard to find exit 129 onto Foothill. So, we took the "scenic route" for a 15 minute drive down Parley's Canyon until the next exit. It was pouring rain, we hadn't eaten yet, we were a little bit lost, and we both were silently wondering if we'd actually be able to get in to the zoo due to the weather. Let's just say we were not happy campers.
Trevor was nice though--I think he knew how much I'd really been wanting to visit the zoo, so he ignored my snappiness.
Well, suffice it to say we got to the zoo unscathed, but decided not to venture out into the downpour :( It was ridiculous--and we could see people leaving the zoo. Ugh.
So, instead of Tuesday of last week being our last day of work for the week, we had to suffer through Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday before we could start having fun :( With Trevor's new work schedule, he is scheduled to work every Saturday. He was able to get our the Saturday of our anniversary off though, so that basically meant it was our last weekend of no work in sight. I decided because of that, we would celebrate our anniversary the ENTIRE weekend instead of just the day of :)
Since I got off work at 12 on Friday, and Trevor had to GO to work at 1, we decided we'd have lunch together; yay! We went for Chinese food, which is probably the best. It felt nice to eat out and just be together during the work day again (we used to have lunch together quite often before Trevor's last job--and before our new budget). Then I trecked my way home to clean everything up and wrap the "presents" I got for Trevor. We'd pretty much agreed we weren't going to get eachother stuff, instead we'd just splurge on things we could do together over the weekend, but since when do I really care about agreements like that? Earlier that week I'd gotten all his favorite treats and dessert fixin's and I wrapped them individually so it seemed like a lot of special stuff. I think it was okay to get all the stuff because it wasn't just for him, you know? We got to make the cake together, and eat it together, so it worked out. Let's see, there was the chocolate fudge cake, the chocolate frosting with sprinkles (Trevor gets cravings for birthday cake...), two cook-and-serve chocolate Jello puddings (we LOVE those), two Heath bars (Trev's obsessed), EL Fudge cookies (yet again, Trevor has an obsession), Cheezits (just plain good), white chocolate chips, and of course--Mountain Dew. Pretty much all the junk food we need for an entire month, but really will only last for a week.
So, after unwrapping all the goodness, we decided we had to have pizza. Ordered from Papa John's and watched Jumper. I thought it turned out to be better than every one said. Not exactly the BEST movie ever, but entertaining at least. Being full and excited for the next day, we didn't stay up too late (after doing a crap load of laundry).
Saturday = Zoo Day! Woot! We have been trying to go to the zoo since the first blossom of the year, but it just has not worked out. So, of course, the day we actually plan, and settle for going without friends, Mother Nature decides to make it the rainiest day in the history of Utah. Something about storms in the Pacific...Idunno. All I know is that it was raining when we woke up, and we were in denial. After a casually getting ready while catching some general conference here and there, we packed up our stuff, zipped up our jackets, and got in the car to head to the zoo. We weren't exactly sure how to get there since I forgot to print off the directions while I was at work (grr, we can't even steal internet from our neighbors anymore). So we headed on I-80 going east while I tried to use my mad cell phone internet skills to get directions. Totally didn't work in time, and we missed the incredibly hard to find exit 129 onto Foothill. So, we took the "scenic route" for a 15 minute drive down Parley's Canyon until the next exit. It was pouring rain, we hadn't eaten yet, we were a little bit lost, and we both were silently wondering if we'd actually be able to get in to the zoo due to the weather. Let's just say we were not happy campers.
Trevor was nice though--I think he knew how much I'd really been wanting to visit the zoo, so he ignored my snappiness.
Well, suffice it to say we got to the zoo unscathed, but decided not to venture out into the downpour :( It was ridiculous--and we could see people leaving the zoo. Ugh.
This story's getting longer than I anticipated...We settled on seeing if the weather would be better the next day, and ate at The Cowboy Grub on right there on Foothill. Trevor'd been there once with his old boss (the blind 90 year old architect) last year and had been wanting to go again ever since. We had very homestyle meals of chicken fried steak and meatloaf. It was pretty tasty. They had a salad bar with this crab salad that was pretty dang amazing. I sort of have this mania about crab salad. I try it every where I go, and decide if it's good, bad, better than I've had before, or not worth having again. This one was probably one of the best I've ever had. The sauce was more orange than white, totally weird, but it made it less fishy tasting. Trevor made me take pictures "discretely." He was embarrassed to be seen with me and my camera :) That's why they are from these horrible below-the-nose/chin angles.
So, in an atempt to avoid heading straight home to veg out and watch TV all day on our anniversary, we drove aimlessly downtown in the rain. But! We did find Trolley Square. This may come as a shock to all you Utahns, but neither of us had ever been to Trolley Square before, so we thought, "What the hey, we may as well." Thoroughly soaking my shoes on the way in, we entered, expecting something much more than we received. It was okay. Just a mall, with sorta old fashioned theme and partially-being-renovated walls. We looked around an overstuffed antique shop--but found only midly interesting eye-sores. We found a candy and taffy store though, and of course, that was pretty sweet :) So we splurged on the overpriced chocolate truffles, fudge, and salt water taffy (made from salt from the Great Salt Lake, of course).
On the way out we stopped by this booth for the Utah chapter of some greyhound adoption group. The greyhounds were pretty neat--really calm, but huge. Made me want a dog even more, if that's possible. We also went into this novelty store (I guess that's what it was), where they sell birthday cards and books, with slightly inappropriate taglines and topics. We found zebra gum! That was one of the best parts. I wanted it for the tatoos and nastalgic qualities.
So, soaking my shoes again on the way out, we left and ate our truffles on the drive to Jordan Landing to see a movie. For some reason we settled on The House Bunny. It was the only one playing right then--we didn't feel like waiting an hour. It turned out to be pretty funny and a lot less explicit than I expected. Of course, as with every Happy-Madison film, it had a few inconceivable moments that were just corny and not funny, but overall, it was entertaining and left us feeling happy. 
We hung out at home for a while and watched some TV while waiting to get hungry so we could go out for our fancy dinner we'd been planning. But after a couple hours we just weren't feeling like a big dinner. I think it was because we had a lot for lunch. It turned out for the best though because the less we spend, the better :) We decided on Riley's for some sandwiches, soup, and shakes. Yum yum :)
We went to PetSmart and got a new rat. Now we have 3. Dont' ask questions, just accept that we did it, okay? Her name is Remmy, she's dark gray, and she smells like no other. We're going to give her the 2 week guarantee period, but if she still smells...So don't anyone get too attached.
By the end of the day, we were content to just lounge around at home watching TV, till Trevor decided we should go on a walk. So at 11 we went on an hour long walk on the Jordan River Parkway behind our apartments and under 4700 South. Totally neat.
Sunday arrives, and after a hearty breakfast of buscuits and gravy with sausage, we were happy to see that the sun was out and the sky was blue. Perfectly cool weather for the zoo! I'm so not about to talk to you about it being Sunday.
Boy howdy! The zoo fulfilled everything we wanted.
Remember the lion drinking fountain?! It was so awesome! This one doesn't work anymore but they have another one by the penguins that works. Brought back so many memories. Trevor was lame and didn't want pictures taken of him, so he's always just standing there.
Oo! this one had a baby! It was the cutest little thing! But it was running around everywhere so all the pictures are blurry.
This one was sitting on the 2 inch ledge 15 feet in the air...
Okay, alligator, but his genes are mutated so he has no pigment in his skin. He's not albino though--his eyes have color. They're more rare than albino though. They die if they're in the sun too long.
He totally just looks like a rubber alligator.
Oh! The elephants were probably my favorite out of all the animals. They're eyes are so... alive. They were dancing to the music playing too :)
Rhinos. Huge.
You could hear them chewing and breathing and sniffing. WAY LOUDER than you'd expect...especially after only having pet rats.
