On the evolution of furniture in my apartment

So, I've gradually been adding furniture to my apartment. When I first arrived, I bought two folding chairs from the Ace Hardware here in town (it is an amazing Ace Hardware store). My mom also bought me a lawn or patio type chair from Ace Hardware, because whe wanted something soft to sit on for the few days that she was here (yes, the chair had removable cushions). I also bought a table to match my folding chairs at WalMart. I obtained a TV/DVD combo from the classifieds section of a local website, and my table promptly became my entertainment center. I also bought an air mattress to sleep on.

Fast forward a few weeks. I was pretty much using the lawn chair for all of my sitting needs, and I decided, "What if someone comes to visit me? Where will they sit? I can't make them sit in folding chairs. That is not very hospitable." So, I decided to visit the local furniture store to look for some comfortable seating for possible guests (visiting teachers, home teachers, etc.). I think I actually visited the store somewhere like a hundred times, and each time I visited, my favorite couch was different. None of them seemed quite right, but I quickly fell in love with a red rocker recliner. It was so comfortable, so I knew that I had to have it. But, I was still undecided on a couch. I had the sales lady but the red chair on hold for me, and promised to come back the next day to purchase the chair and a couch. (I was deciding between to different couches, but couldn't make up my mind). I showed up the next day, and randomly decided to by a completely different couch. I pretty much use the couch for my bed these days.

So, for those keeping track, I was up to 7 (count them...7) seats in my little apartment. I was using a table for a TV stand, sitting in the red chair, using the couch for a bed, and using the folding tables for end tables. And my favorite cushioned chair from Ace? It was relegated to my bedroom, which isn't really used as a bedroom. Just in case I wanted to sit in this room I rarely visit, I guess.

After Christmas, I decided to make some changes. The storage containers were on sale at WalMart (and Ace as well, I found out too late). I absolutely love storage containers...and towels (but that is a completely different topic). I bought a large 50 gallon rolling tote, which became my Christmas decoration, etc. storage container and also doubled as my TV stand. My table was now free to be... well... a table. I also bought a little rolling cart with three drawers storage container to be my end table. Now my folding chairs could sit at my table. I even bought a re table cloth for my table, so that it would match the other decor in the room. I thought I was set for a while... but then...

I saw an ad on the local website advertising a 100% wood pine table for sale, with matching chairs. "Well, what can it hurt to send an e-mail asking for pictures?" I thought to myself. "I probably won't like it anyway." I'm actually kinda picky when it comes to furniture. And then, in response, I received an e-mail with this picture in it.


I loved it. I thought the woodwork was beautiful! I wasn't the biggest fan of the rush grass seats, but for the price they wanted, I figured the table and chairs were a pretty good deal, and I could live with the seats (they're actually much more comfortable than I thought they would be). I decided to buy the table. So many dining room sets I saw in the furniture store just looked kind of cheap, or small, and they usually cost more, and well, I just wasn't satisfied with any of them. I was looking for something more like what my Grandma Gardner used to have. Well, this isn't like her table was, but it is solid, and (at least in my opinion) beautiful and timeless. The local Elders' Quorum was nice enough to help out with transporting it.

And almost a week later, I'm still not regretting my decision (which is a big thing for me). I spend a few minutes each day admiring it's beauty. I'm glad I bought the table.

As you can see, the set has five chairs (I know, a little weird, usually sets have 4 or 6 chairs... apparently the seller's son broke the 6th chair). So, add the 5 to the 7 and you get 12. That means 12 seats for one person. I have not had any visiting or home teachers come by yet, but when they do come, there will be plenty of seats for them to choose from. And now I feel like I can invite people over for a proper dinner. Maybe I can even have a girl's night at my house with the RS ladies watching a movie and/or playing games. The possibilities are endless. I'm excited.

My folding table and matching chairs are now in the kitchen serving as a laundry folding table. Soon, this table will double as a microwave cart so I can free up some counter space.

And yes, my couch still doubles as a bed... I don't really see that changing anytime soon...

If I remember, I'll have to post pictures of some of my other furniture. I think it will make the blog a bit more interesting. Add a little color. You know what I mean?

My Marilyn Monroe Moment

Yesterday morning as I chose which dress to wear, I forgot to take into account that it was slightly windy weather outside, and apparently certain dresses and skirts are more affected by windy conditions by others. I didn't really have any problems until I got down into DC, and then my skirt started blowing all around. I kept it under control pretty well, I think, but it was annoying. After a while the breeze had died down a bit and I totally forgot about my dress and skirt - it was nice.
Then, as my roommate Crystal and I were walking along, unbeknownst to me (mostly because I wasn't paying attention) we walked over one of the metro vents. Crystal hadn't been having much trouble with her skirt, but then I saw her grabbing for it when it started to fly up. Then, it clicked in my mind, that if her skirt was doing that...well, mine probably was too. So, I held onto my skirt as I rushed off the vent. I really don't know how much was exposed, but Crystal said a fair amount, and that my slip had also been caught up by the breeze. Great. The worst part was that the vent happened to be right in front of a cafe that had outdoor seating. Yes, I'm pretty sure some of the customers saw, because we had to walk past the cafe again (I avoided the vent) on our way back, and people were definitely staring at us in the "those are the girls whose dresses were flying up" kinda way. Maybe a few were even hoping for a repeat. I was smart this time, though, and avoided the vent AND held on to my skirt.

Here is a link on how to avoid the mishap, although it mostly deals with choosing the correct skirt or dress:

How to keep a skirt from flying up in windy weather

A good laugh and giving 3 weeks notice

About a week and a half ago I sent my boss my tentative leave date, as I'm planning on moving back to Utah in the very near future. Of course I didn't think to include a year in the e-mail. And in his true fashion, my boss replied something to the effect of "You're referring to 2012, right?" Then he asked me to get back to him when I was positive that was my leave date (2010 not 2012, though) and he would let the department I am currently working with know.

Well, yesterday I finally asked to meet with him so I could confirm the leave date. At the beginning of the conversation he asked me a question (I think maybe it was if I had a job in Utah already...I'm not sure). Anyway, whatever the question was I just started laughing and laughing and laughing. I think I probably laughed for 3 or 4 minutes. And my boss started laughing because I was laughing. We had a good laugh. And then we talked.

Towards the end of the conversation, my boss said, "Okay. So I'll tell M that you're going to be leaving in 3 weeks, but you'll probably be back in 4 weeks." I assured him that wasn't the case, but we did agree that I would be leaving in 3 weeks, but not quitting. Instead, I would be telecommuting, but probably would be working a lot fewer hours. So that's the story of how once again I did not quit my job.

Trace - Still a Winner

Anyone who knows me knows that I love The Apprentice. My favorite contestant ever on the Apprentice was Trace Adkins. He was on as a guest star this week, and he is STILL my favorite contestant ever. I just have so much respect for the man. Honestly, if I could find a man of his character...Actually, honestly if I could be more like him myself.

Hooray! My cowboys won last night!

And I'm not talking about Dallas. "Nuff said.

Amanda

Sound logic and favorite Amanda sayings

The Word of Wisdom really does have it right. Moderation in all things. Too little of a good thing can kill you; but, then again, so can too much as was pointed out in this article. I found the article interesting, but what I really enjoyed, was one of the comments in response to the article which stated, "Study: Life can lead to death." This actually reminded me of something I say some nights which is, "I'm going to bed so that I can wake up in the morning." Another of my favorite nighttime sayings is "Have sweet dreams, even if you don't remember them."

Growing up I had a quote/motto which was "Everyone is my hero". The reasoning behind this is that everyone has at least one great quality about them. Each person has something of value that they can teach us or that they are good at. So, we need to learn to seek out the good in people and learn from that and encourage the good and positive traits that people have. My sister's roommate once challenged me on my theory. She asked me "What about Satan?" Well, for one, Satan isn't actually a person. For two, well, I forgot what else I told her.

So, well, I don't really know what the point of anything I just wrote is. Just thought I'd share random, (very) loosely related thoughts.

True confessions of a wuss

So, first of all I want to say that I'm pretty much afraid of a lot of things.

Now, on to the rest of the blog. I've been gone from Maryland for about a month visiting my family and taking a vacation with my mom, dad, and sister Marissa. Our vacation was a cruise to the Mexican Riviera and Disneyland. On the vacation, I decided to take a few more risks. For example, for one of the shore excursions my sister went on an outdoor adventure run by Vallarta Adventures. The adventure began with a speedboat ride across the Bay of Banderas to Boca de Tomatlan. After that our group loaded into two Mercedes Benz Unimogs to take an off-road expedition to the base-camp (they say off-road, but we were on dirt roads, which isn't my definition of offroad).

We then road mules further up into the forest/jungle. My mule had this thing where it had to be in front. At the beginning we were 5th or 6th, and I could tell that the mule was impatient, but it was waiting. Then, one of the guides came up behind the horses and my mule decided enough was enough and he passed the other mules so that he could take the lead and set the pace. After that, any time he heard another mule on his heels, he took off so that he could be in the lead position.

After that came a series of zip lines, bridges, and two repelling experiences. We repelled down a waterfall and we had a free fall repelling experience. The guides did a wonderful job at keeping us safe, even though I wasn't very good at the zip lines. Now, you may ask, "how can one not be good at zip lines. My answer: Well, I wasn't very good at the braking part. I always didn't use the brakes enough, or else I used them too much. And on the repelling down the waterfall part, I wasn't really that great at following their directions about not bending my knees.

To finish off the experience we took the Unimog back to Boca de Tomatlan and then the powerboat back across Banderas Bay. It was a fun experience and I would definitely recommend the experience to others.

The trip gave me my second experience in kayaking. My sister and I shared a kayak, and my sister was making fun of me and getting frustrated with me the whole time. I would usually paddle on the right instead of the left when we wanted to turn right; I didn't put my oar in deep enough...I warned her before we went that I wasn't very good at it. I think I'd improved quite a bit by the end.

The trip also gave me my first experience with rock climbing. I've been meaning to try it for quite some time, but I never really could get up the nerve (or the money). Since the rock climbing wall was on the ship, use of it came free (there goes the first obstacle). Despite the no-cost, I still had to get up the nerve. I kept postponing. On the last day of the trip, my sister and I went up, but I just sat and watched as she climbed the wall. Then I sat and watched others...for about an hour. Finally, I decided I could give it a try. It really wasn't too bad, although I used my arms more than I was supposed to.

My final risk was on going on rides at Disneyland. I warned you. I'm a wuss. When I was younger the only roller coaster I went on was Big Thunderhead Mountain and one at Toon Town (which I remember not liking). So, this time I actually went on the Matterhorn (which is much milder that Big Thunderhead Mountain), and Space Mountain. No California Screaming this time, though. I'm still not ready for the upside down experience again (I didn't really enjoy the Collossus at Lagoon). I also tried out Splash Mountain for the first time (and was drying out for the rest of the day), and Hollywood Tower of Terror a couple of time (and everytime I sat down after that I kept waiting for the seat to drop a few stories).

Anyway, those are sum of my vacation adventures.