Sean and Amy

As I have not found a job yet, I have tried to mitigate my jobless state by searching for free samples and applying daily for silly drawings. I am quite proud of some of the things I have found on my freebie hunt. For instance, most recently in the mail I have received a sample of contact solution, 2 samples of Wisk laundry detergent, a full sized Nutrigrain bar type thing, a cute box of Kleenex, a coupon for a free full sized bottle of Advil, a coupon for a free full sized container of Cottonelle Wipes, and some other things that I can't quite remember.... (FYI: Crest gives out lame samples, barely enough for one time brushing your teeth, and it leaked. I threw it away)

Just today I signed up for lots more free things! Axe deodorant, Dove deodorant, Toms of Maine Toothpaste, Vaseline hand creme, some probiotics (I'm not entirely sure what these things do but I have found that the more I keep at this free stuff kick the less discerning I get about what I apply for, ironically, that same principle applies for my job search as well), I even signed up to get a Neti Pot and two packets of solution (apparently it flushes out your sinuses. I looked it up on WebMD and they say its ok, so I'm totally gonna try it...maybe. I have this thing about my nose and not liking liquids up there... you know how it is.) And to top it all off I got a free condom combo pack, yes, that's right, a Condom Combo Pack. I must admit I'm slightly wary of free condoms, but what can you do?

Sean laughs at me for my goofiness in this freebie kick that I'm on, but it totally keeps me sane.

I have discovered some other things to do with my free time, like trying to design the new fragrance for a Body Shop bath gel, I call it Clementine Sublime. And decorating the next candle holder for Glade, I call it Spring fields (Interestingly enough Glade changed my design around a tiny bit and told me I'm from South Dakota, go figure). I have also found out the great cleaning power of vinegar and baking soda. (I hate the smell of vinegar so I put some peppermint oil in to make it more bearable, next time I will try lavender) I love the way they foam up and how well they clean the bath tub.

I'd also like to send a big shout out to Netflix, Books, PS3, and HTC for keeping me sane in these last few months of my lonely life, when cleaning and the internet just doesn't cut it.

For any of you guys interested here are some links to where I find out about all these free things:

http://www.thefrugalgirls.com/
http://www.free-stuff-finder.com/
http://www.allyou.com/coupons-deals/daily-free-samples-00411000068023/

You may think I have no life....

.....you may be right.

At least I have my free samples.

So this video is really bumpy and the house is a mess, but dad wanted to see what the apartment looks like, so here is the preview. Hopefully I will get another post up soon that will have a less bumpy video when the apartment is cleaner.... *** I meant Water HEATER Closet, as opposed to a Water Closet*** Those are two very different things.

Sean and I went camping with our friends Dani and Cory this weekend. We got a bit if a late start though. We didn't get out until 5:30, then we stopped at a very yummy restaurant called Joe Banditos, which I highly recommend. We drove around for quite a while trying to find a good camping spot. Unfortunately the area was inundated by cows, so it was a no go! We drove for quite a while without finding a good camping spot. But we did get to see one of the most gorgeous sunsets ever while on our quest.At one point we got stuck on a very narrow mountain road with a hill to one side, a cliff to the other, and one very silly cow slowly leading the way.It was after ten o'clock before we finally found a campsite, and let me tell you, it is difficult to find a good campsite in the dark. It is also difficult to avoid stepping in all the cow patties laying around the campsite.... But we eventually got everything set up.

The next morning I woke up at 6:30 and since no one else was up I decided to go explore around the area. I hiked up this cool hill, when something caught the corner of my eye. It was a moose and he was running right towards the hill I was on!My first thought was "Ok, if it comes up here and starts running at me I can dive into the low branches on this pine and it should deter it." My next thought was, "I had better circle around this tree so I can get a good picture!" I circled around the tree and there it was! It was huge! The moose stopped running and looked at me, and I looked at it. Then I realized I was pretty far from my tree refuge so I turned and scampered closer to the tree. When I turned back around the moose gave me one last glance and left. I played a little game of chicken with that moose and it totally won.I went out the next morning to see if I could run into anything cooler than a moose (like a bear), but the only thing I saw the next morning was a goofy cow that wandered into our camp and felt the need to moo...a lot.

At one point in our trip Dani and I were walking across a tiny stream and all of the sudden Dani got sucked down to her knees in mud! She almost lost her shoes! Dani refused to do a enactment so I could record it, so this pic was the best I could do. We had one of the best treats ever on this camping trip: biscuits on a stick. They are so good. All you need is doweling, biscuits (Preferably not the kind with butter in it), and a fire. They are so good! That and roasted starburst.

Oh, and here's one last awesome pic I took on our trip.

So I have been craving spaetzle ever since we went to Adam and Kenices's for dinner, so I had Sean make us some for dinner tonight. I was so impressed with his cooking skills that I had to record it. He was cooking the batter, draining the spatzel, frying the spaetzle, caramelizing the onions, and making the gravy all at the same time! What a wonderful husband I have! A few days age Sean and I were making Wontons and he was finished making his 20th wonton, while I was still on my 5th! Sean is very unique, he can pick things up in no time and excels at it, I'm better at plodding along, which is why I'm so impressed with him. Hes a whiz! Anyway, I was so impressed that he could do all this that I recorded it. Please forgive my poor narration skills.

On Wednesday Sean and I drove down to St. George much earlier than I would have liked (9am!), but we were able to stop by and see Ashley at work and Tom and Minon and Mckenna over at their place before we had to head up to Tuacahn, where we ate a great dinner and watched Tarzan! It was a really fun show! There were monkeys swinging right over the audience's heads! Thursday was a great day to relax. My aunt and I went shopping and we found these really awesome things called water beads. They fit into this little tiny tube and when you put them in water they swell up and look really cool. I got some for our kitchen table. We were able to eat dinner with Ashley and McKenna, then we went over to Tom and Minon's for a wonderful ice cream bar! We were able to see Kaysha, Nora, Jarom, and Isaiah there for a bit. Sean and I were in for a real treat at the place we stayed in in St. George: a bunk bed. (Sean calls it our romantic bungalow). My grandpa took the other twin bed in the room the first night we were there. :)Friday was our last day of vacation. :( We cleaned up all our stuff and then we drove to Tai Pan Trading. It was pretty much the coolest place ever! We got three vases to put our water beads in. Then we went to lunch at Cafe Rio (Only my second time going) and said goodbye.

We relaxed on Saturday, and on Sunday Kenice and Adam invited us over to their place for dinner, where we had one of our favorite foods: Speatzle (This has not been Sean spell-checked so I hope its spelled right) Dinner was so good. We played Ticket to Ride and had lots of fun.

On Friday after work we drove up to this really awesome place called Henley Manor, it was a cool Shakespeare themed hotel. My grandpa, my other aunt and uncle, and a few of my cousins met us in Cedar City. On Saturday we went to this super funny play called 39 Steps. There were only 4 actors, yet there were over 150 different parts that they played. Then we drove out to my aunt and uncles campsite and we had tin foil dinners and s'mores.
I have no idea what happened Sunday... Apparently it wasn't too exciting. Oh... I think that was the Fourth of July, which means we watched fireworks at the Cedar City Airport from the balcony in my parents room. They were pretty awesome.

Monday was one of the most fun days that we had on the trip, in my opinion. Sean told my family about this awesome hike down in a place called Kanaraville, and we just had to go again. It was a water hike, and it was so much fun! Sean had his baby with him (His camera) and he took some awesome pictures. Even my grandpa was tearing up that hike! Although Sean and I did pay the price for our 4 hour adventure: Sean with a sore ankle for a few days and me with few cuts, scrapes, and bruises, and a terrible sun burn (which I am happy to say has now turned into a wonderful farmers tan.)



On Tuesday we went to the play Pride and Prejudice. It was a pretty good play, but I don't think Sean appreciated it as much as the females in the audience did.... :)

We have had such a wonderful vacation! My Family came into town on Tuesday, my aunt and uncle, Gee and Big Guy drove up that morning and we went on some errands then we picked my parents up from the airport. We stopped by our favorite restaurant: Gourmandise and had these yummy little critters (see below) for dessert.On Wednesday we had these great plans to go to Thanksgiving Point and see the dinosaur museum. Unfortunately we were not ready in enough time so we had to scrap those plans. Then we drove out to Heber to go on the Heber Creeper railroad, we got there in time to see the Heber Creeper inch its way out of the train station. So we did the next best thing and drove to Granny's and ate some very good ice cream shakes!On Thursday we were actually able to make it to the Thanksgiving Point dinosaur museum! Wahoo! It was fun to be able to see more dinosaurs than the few that we have at the Museum of Paleontology. For dinner we went to this extremely wonderful Italian restaurant called Gloria's Little Italy. I highly recommend the Gnocchi.

On Friday night we went to the Strawberry Festival Rodeo with our friends Dani and Cory. It was so fun! I think that my favorite part was Milking the Wild Cow. Four teams of three guys each got a wild cow that they had to catch and attempt to milk. It was so funny, those guys were getting dragged all around the arena by some very large cows. The best part was when one of the cows just laid down on its belly and nobody could get at its udders to milk it. When the game was over all the cows were herded out, except the one that was laying down. A guy on a horse came over to try to herd it out but that cow was the onriest thing ever and whenever the horse came near it, the cow would headbutt the horse and push the horse out of the way. It took like five minutes to get that one cow out of the arena!
On Saturday Dani and I went shopping for presents for Fathers Day. I got Sean a pair of really nice Thorlo socks and I filled them with Almond Hershey Kisses and a gift card to Mi Ranchito. I really do love Fathers Day, I got to eat most of the kisses and I get to enjoy half that gift card as well... On Saturday our newly married friends Delta and Zack invited us over for dinner. We played some fun games (Although, I don't think that I will ever play Guesstures with you, Delta. :) ) and had some very good homemade lasagna!

Oh, and our herbs are doing pretty well. (For the most part. One of Sean's still hasn't sprouted) Notice the difference between my small blue flower pot and Sean's. He very neatly put 5 seeds in. While I just dumped all my seeds in hoping at least a few would grow. Turns out they all grew. They will all probably die from not enough nutrients to go around... oh well.

My wonderful grandma (the one that first let me use Nair (It burned!) and would buy me Blackjack gum) recently passed away after being on Hospice for the last few weeks. Sean and I were able to fly out to California this last Thursday night and meet up with all of my family on my Dad's side for the funeral. Only one cousin was missing. We stayed at my aunt Gee's house, where 12 of us did our best to squeeze into her leftover space (and avoid getting our stuff pooped on by Gee's vengeful cats). My parents were there, as well as my brother and his girlfriend, and my cousin and his wife and two children. It was so fun to have them all there. (Especially Jaxon and Skylee. Skylee was our little friend all weekend. I taught her to say "yeehaw!" Although there never was much feeling behind it when she said it.)

Friday was the funeral. Who knew that funerals were so time consuming and that there were so many different parts to it? First there was the viewing (It was at that time I resolved to be cremated) then there was the funeral service where all of her kids spoke. Then we went to the grave site for the grave dedication. Then it was back to the church for snacks. I think that was probably my favorite part. When I die I want to be cremated, have a quick funeral, and then lots of food for everybody!

On Saturday we had so much fun! We went to the beach for a weenie roast lunch and s'mores. We got to play in the water and dig up little shells and sand crabs (well not so much the sand crabs, those things freak me out). My grandpa, who is in his 80's rode his bike 11 miles down to the beach! I think he is in better shape than me. Then we went to a family get together and everybody played volleyball and baseball, talked, and ate dinner. For dessert we went to this amazing place just down the street from Disneyland called Joe's Italian Ice. If you are ever in the Disneyland area I highly recommend going there for the best ice cream and italian ice ever! Then we went back home and had a Nuts (Nertz) tournament. It was a pretty fierce competition!

On Sunday we played a lot of Boggle and went to church and we had lots of family over for a wonderful taco dinner, thanks to Brittany and all the other helpers. Brittany also made these awesome "Oreo cookies." I will put the recipe at the end of the blog because they are that good! My friend, Cassie was able to come over too and we played so many fun games and Sean is so proud that he won a game of Nuts!

On Monday we went to a yummy brunch at IHOP and then we went to the Tide Pools at Crystal Cove in Newport Beach. I may have taken a shell or two... Then it was off to the airport for a return to real life. How lame!

Awesome Oreo Cookies:

Cookies:
1 Pkg Devils food cake
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Oil

Bake at 350 for eight minutes

Filling:
8 ounce pkg Cream Cheese
1/4 cup Butter
2 tsp Vanilla
2-4 cups Powdered Sugar