Here's the latest

Well, we're starting to run out of time to find a place to move, so over the next month, we're going to be house/apartment/duplex searching. The city we're moving to doesn't have a list of rental properties, so we're going to have to start calling around and looking online and through news papers and possibly drive around, etc.

We took Lily to the vet on Wednesday because she needed her annual shots...wow, for a couple days you could TELL she wasn't feeling well, thankfully that has passed. It made me feel bad that she wasn't feeling well, because she was fine before going to the vet.

Anyway, when she got back from the vet we gave her a replacement for her new toy (the picture is on another post, but I'll post it again.) She completely finished demolishing it the night before, so it was great time to give her a new one. Here's before and after pics.
BEFORE:


AFTER:

She now has a new blue one that looks like the before. She's never demolished it quite that bad before xD. This is the first time the stuffing has actually come out. She's feeling much better now and is thrilled with the replacement. We even bought 2 in case when we move if there aren't any more at the other Wal-Marts, we'll have a backup. It's the only cat toy we've found that she actually likes to play with. She thinks the others are lame.

Other updates, we finally got our couches replaced. This is an update to my post about the downtown KC rant. We got the couches on Saturday (August 16), I have before and after pics of that too (I'm so proud of myself xD)

BEFORE:




AFTER:



(Don't mind Lily in this pic, she had no idea what I was doing and was kind of curious why I was standing on the other couch across the room xD)

The pics make the couch covers look like different colors but they're really the color of the smaller one...a greenish tinge instead of cream colored like the big couch pic looks like (The lights made it look like that) I'm not too fond of the color, but couch covers are expensive...to get other ones would probably cost more than what we paid for the couches. (The couches are in pretty good condition under the couch covers, the person we got them from thought the couches were ugly, so she got couch covers) The next time I wash the couch covers I'll have to get a pic of what they look like underneath. I don't think they're too bad, but I like using the couch covers because right now we don't have a kitchen table...so we eat in the living room.

The old couches went to Mark's parent's house. Mark's brother wants the couches but wasn't able to pick them up, so Mark's parents are storing them for him. (Thanks!)

Mark's school is going well. It started almost 2 weeks ago. We took our cars to the auto shop and finally got them tuned up and working how they should be. (I won't go in to how long it took or the price, because that all was a pain x_x, but it's done now, so we're good for now.)

I'm trying to go to the dentist sometime this week or next week to get x-rays for my wisdom teeth to come out before the end of the year. We're hoping that I can get them out September 22...just so that we can be done with it, and since we've got dental insurance, there's no point to keep waiting until rates may increase next year. I need to stop putting it off and find a dentist xD.

I've got lots more cute pics of Lily that I HAVE to put up because they're so cute they need to be shared, so here they come:

She's IN a plastic bag...don't ask me why, she did that on her own xD She climbed in and turned around to stick her head out.

Sleeping on a chair.

Sitting in her shoe box. That's her latest place to sleep or chill.

Trying to sneak into my work stuff. She likes to climb into my bag (the blue one)


Mark was reading and Lily wanted attention. As you can see, she walked over the book so Mark couldn't read without giving her some sort of attention. She also decided to play with his bookmark in the 2nd pic.

Funny animation

I saw this animation in a forum, so I decided to watch it.

It is hilarious! xD. Click the link, feel free to leave what you think in the comments. It's about a spelling bee, make sure you have your speakers on.

LINK
http://onelani.deviantart.com/art/Spelling-Bee-33828926

It's so funny I had to share it.

Downtown KC

Dang I HATE downtown KC.

I was looking at couches on craigslist.com and found some couches in downtown KC I was interested in and went to see them today. I think if anything else is on craigslist in downtown kc, I'll let it pass unless it's something I REALLY need.

I got lost half a dozen times at least. I ended up in Kansas once, and almost in North KC. Goodness sakes, it was ridiculous. The biggest problem is downtown the exits all start with 2, and you have to go with whatever the letter is. THEN, when you actually get to the exit you need, it doesn't even have the exit number on it, it just says EXIT. That's why I took the wrong exit several times and had to try to find a way to turn around...and downtown is like only one-way streets...which sucks when you're trying to turn around x_X. Dang. It sucked. I didn't like downtown before, but now I really don't like it. It's so confusing.

Anyway, on a better note, I decided we're going to get the couches :) now we just need some place to store our current couches, and we're working on that. We're probably going to pick up the couches this Saturday or next Saturday...we'll see.

Pressure Cooker

I was talking to mom the other day about getting a pressure cooker and decided I really wanted one, so last Tuesday me and Mark went to Ace Hardware and bought one. I used it on Wednesday to make a beef roast. DANG THAT WAS GOOD!! It tasted just like mom's. As soon as I opened the pressure cooker I was almost drooling because it smelled so good.

So, I officially really like my new pressure cooker. Sunday I'm probably going to use it to cook some chicken that I've had in my freezer for months. I can taste it already...

The next biggest thing is I need more recipes. I really should get around to looking up some recipes online for the pressure cooker. I've decided not to buy cook books unless I'm able to flip through it and make sure I would actually use some of the recipes. (I bought 2 cookbooks online, and I think I've used one recipe total...it was kind of a waste of money honestly)

Anyway, on to the next topic:
Our vehicles are having problems again.
I took my car to Meineke on Wednesday because it was making a funny noise (Wednesday is my day off...that's why so much happens on Wednesday xD) It was kinda weird, me and Mark pulled into the drive way, and one of the people who works there came right up to me and started asking me what kinds of problems the car was having, etc. I'd never had someone do that before and it was kinda neat. Mark went into the office to do the paperwork while I explained to the person all the problems we were having. It was the Meineke in Independence, and I was extremely impressed with that. We're taking the Kia next Wednesday because it's got an oil leak and has some problems with the exhaust system. We already put quite a bit of money into the Kia since we've had it...so we're hoping these repairs won't be half as much.

Mark is starting school around the 20th, and we found some books online at www.half.com. Apparently it's an ebay company, and we bought 3 of Mark's books from there (1 was a teacher's edition math book...which it didn't say it was...so we're still working with the seller to see if we can send it back and get a refund. Mark went to the bookstore and just bought one so he could make sure he'd for sure have the right one for school.) The other two books we still haven't gotten in the mail, but I REALLY hope they're the right ones. The prices were lots cheaper than even the bookstore's used prices.

Well, that's about it for now that's going on. We're still looking into finding a place to live in Gladstone, but we've got until October to get that figured out.

Lily

Lily has been being super cute lately. Here's an example:



I was in the bathroom yesterday getting ready for work and she curled up in the sink and just laid there xD! She was in there for like 15 minutes. This is the first time she's done that. Other times she'll curl up in shoe boxes and laundry baskets.





A few weeks ago I was folding laundry, and she was in the laundry basket, so I started putting clothes in the basket:

She didn't feel like moving xD She was in the laundry basket like that for like 20 minutes. It was hilarious to me, so I took a pic.

She does stuff like that all the time, and it's super cute. I rarely have my camera with me when she does something cute, so these are just examples of how super cute she can be.

The other day she had her toy in her mouth (here's a pic of her FAVORITE toy):

It's a fish that hangs from a string that we move around and she loves to chase it. It has a bell or rattle or something inside it so it makes noise too. Anyway, she always carries her fish into the bedroom when it's time for bed. Anyway, she had her toy in her mouth, and tried to meow while it was in her mouth. One of the fins got caught on her bottom tooth some how and it was hanging off her mouth while she meowed. I was almost dying of laughter. I wish I could have gotten a picture of it. It was priceless, and I doubt I'll ever be able to get a picture of it, because it probably won't happen again.

Yay

We've got Mark all enrolled in school and his schedule set up. Hallelujah. I'm glad it's done. School will be starting next month. It's really weird for Mark going back to school, but it's best in the long run.

We're also looking into moving to Gladstone when our lease ends. Gladstone will be a perfect middle between our jobs. We just need to find a place to live. We don't really care to live in an apartment again. A duplex would be okay, but I would rather a house. Whatever it is we need 2 bedrooms because one bedroom just plain isn't enough space any more. It's a pain trying to look for houses for rent. All the searches I do pull up apartments for rent, not houses.

We're just going to have to drive around Gladstone and look around.

Another Update

Well, there's still not really a whole lot going on for us right now. We had our 1 1/2 year anniversary on June 8. I can't believe it will be 2 years in December, it really doesn't seem that long. Where has the time gone!?

Mark's going back to school. He was officially accepted to the Business & Technology MCC. All that's left to do is take the placement test, set up a schedule, and of course, pay tuition and all that good stuff. It's kinda hard to get used to him in school and I imagine it will take us both quite a bit of getting used to...it'll all be for the best in the long run though.

Nothing much has changed for me. I've still got that promotion thing where I'm a mentor. They are hiring for Team Lead position (which is kind of what mentors are trained in a bit, but team leads are never on the phone with customers unless a customer wants to talk to a supervisor...if they're on the phone, it's with fellow co-workers.) Unfortunately for that position, you have to have CSG/inbound training, which I don't have. (and probably won't have until November or so when I'm done being a mentor.) Right now team leads schedules stink too. They have alternating days off based on which week it is. I think that's terrible, I'd much rather have my scheduled days off so I know all the time what my schedule is going to be like.

I was looking through remodeling things the other day, and now I really want to have a house. (I wanted one before, but I really want one now.) I was about to go into my kitchen and tear it apart so Mark can build drawers in the cabinets xD. I had to stop looking at remodeling/kitchen pictures.

Here's one of the kitchens I was looking at...

I LOVE all the cabinets and drawers. I want one so much...and Mark can build cabinets like that. We'd probably have to save up for it, but it would be neat to have cabinets built by Mark in the kitchen. Plus there's tons of storage space...and since they're drawers you can measure them out just right to fit plates and cuts and pans and all that stuff in the drawer instead of an entire cabinet! What an awesome idea! (As you might be able to guess, I'm extremely excited about that idea xD)

I was also looking up some stuff about "green" remodeling (Actually, I think it was a headline on yahoo.com or msn.com or something, and sometimes I read the articles) Anyway, they had a video of how they make "green" countertops. O_O! I WANT ONE! They're really pretty, and they pretty much make them out of recycled colored bottles and then resin. Here's a pic:

I actually think that counter top is kind of ugly, but I couldn't find another pic that showed what it really looks like. If I got to make my own, it would probably be either blue colored pieces, green colored pieces, or blue and green colored pieces. And it cleans like glass...seriously, you use glass cleaner to clean it. AND it's economy friendly. (I'm not one of those "green" fanatics, but I think this is a super idea, and I like how it looks...in fact, I think it looks nicer than traditional counter tops. It's pretty expensive though, I don't remember how much.

Too bad it's so expensive to become economy-friendly. If they had economy friendly items at the same prices as the other things, I'm sure more people would buy them. When people barely have enough money to live how they're living now, they don't really care if they're buying the "green" lawn mower...they just want something that works at a cheap price.

Oh, speaking of the "green" lawn mower. Here's what it looks like:

According to a news report, it only costs like $5 a YEAR to run! It doesn't use any gas. That's awesome. Anyway, that's the latest I'm interested in in green products I've heard about so far. I want a "green" lawn mower without a doubt...when we have a place that actually has a lawn we need to mow.