Meeting Expectations

So this isn't necessarily what you would think I would write about, since I have a million other topics that need to be posted, like December happenings, Christmas in Flagstaff, Corban's first birthday, and my crazy new life in 2009. I am just motivated to write tonight because I found a few seconds (Jared is in the shower) and this is what happened today:

Yesterday I got a phone call from Home Depot Expo's Showroom Supervisor, Brian. He called, just as I had been expecting, to tell me that I could come pick up the sink that we were going to buy from the showroom. This sink is the Kohler Yingyang sink. The particular one we were going to buy is a color and finish Kohler has discontinued, so Brian had arranged for us to buy their display. He called to tell me that I would need to come as soon as possible because all EXPO's are closing their doors FOREVER. Apparently it has been all over the news...which I don't recieve, nor do I seek it out. The price he would sell the sink for was $100. WHAHOO! That was a steal of a deal because the sink was actually $180 AND it was a great color and finish. I have spent the last month dreaming of how perfect this sink will be in our bathroom and trying to determine what would be my highest price because he hadn't told me how much it would be until this phone call. Yes, $100 is definitely within range for this lovely sink.

Today we planned a quick trip down to EXPO to pick up our sink. We went straight to the showroom and found Brian, who knew who we were when we went directly to the sink. So he worked to take down the display. He got the fixtures removed and then removed the board on which the sink was sitting. He tried to pull it off the board, which wasn't working and then with one quick movement, which I missed, the sink fell off the board onto the floor. Shattered. We all looked at the sink in amazement and silence. Brain began to apologize, Jared calmly said we can glue it back together, and I just tried to process what had happened. Brian felt so bad that he said he had some others he could sell us. As he showed them to us and explained how they could look, Jared motioned towards this other sink and, mostly talking to me, said, "We also liked this one" hoping that I would be happy with something else. It was the DemiLav Wading Pool in a finish that is apparently extra money.
Brain said, "I can sell that one to you. Do you want that one? I will sell it to you for $100 since that is what I was selling you the other one for."
That wasn't what either of us expected, and infact, this exceeded our expectations. This sink retailed for $590, was on sale for $390, and we just stole it for $100! This was actually our preference over the other one, but I would never spend that on a sink.

We picked up the tile for the shower at 20% off. It is amazing how fast you can make decisions when you have a little pressure on you. We ended up leaving EXPO with a hole in our credit card, but we came away with our bathroom project complete (only speaking of materials...now we have to find the labor to put it all in).
There were a lot of other great things for sale, but unfortunately we have cut our spending budget. So if it isn't necessary for the finishing of our remodel, it doesn't come home.

I will let you know when the master bath really is finished, and I will throw in some pictures of the $100 sink!

the best!

i really do have the best wife...i know i tell her all the time, but i thought that you might want to know. i love her.

-jared

trading places

so, this is jared and i pretty much refuse to ever capitalize anything...except for Christ, God, and words like that. i just wanted to let you know what it would be like when i post to this blog.

we just had a great visit from my parents. we were semi-busy (nothing new) but my parents are always good sports and are willing to put up with our crazy lives. i didn't see my parents until wednesday night when they came home from a opening dinner and entertainment. they both look so good. they are eating right and exercising...and it shows. love them to death!

here's a picture of corban with cousin sinjin in salt lake going into home depot:

I missed my wife and corban while they had a mini vacation in utah. amanda's friend, allison, was married last weekend. they left saturday morning and got back tuesday night. but apparently they had a great time! while amanda suffered in the snow, i suffered in the 80's (weather, not era)! it was nice and busy at work, but i still missed them terribly.

TRADING PLACES:

ok, so nika (our dog) has been doing certain things forever. things like climbing in the bottom of the stroller on walks...knocking over the laundry basket and climbing in to play...well, there was a role change just recently. check out the videos and pictures to see what i mean. basically you can see that from an early age our children are observing and learning...corban is learning how to be a dog. here's a pic of corban in nika's bed:

hope you enjoyed my first attempt. this will be the first of few, i am sure.

Thanksgiving Cruis'n

So much to share! It almost feels ridiculous sharing about the cruise since it was so long ago. It really was a fabulous vacation! We'll forgo all the details and tell our story with pictures:

Day 1, arriving on the ship, the first thing we did was go up to the buffet and EAT. Grandpa and Noni couldn't resist giving Corban his first bite of chocolate and ice cream. This picture is Noni showing him some fun with water. The waiters loved us on this vacation!

These boys are the cutest! We are sure lucky they are in the family! They are demonstrating what to do in an emergency evacuation of the ship-Be Sure to Have Fun.

This here was one of the many wonderful creations on our bed each night. Chocolate, not so good.
Day 2 was spent cruis'n the seas. One of only two days that we could fully enjoy all there was to enjoy on the ship.

Day 3 was Haiti. Of course they have their own private island. This interaction with Corban and Noni was hilarious to watch. He kept pulling down on the brim of the hat and then lifting it up for the surprise of Noni's loving smile. This entertained him for a couple of minutes.

Day 4 was Jamaica. We spent our day with Miche and Linzi, driving around with a islander who asked if we wanted some weed. He was kind enough to show us all the good things about Jamaica too- like the waterfalls (not the most famous, crowded ones), the "jungle" with fresh coconut and sugar cane treats, Jamaican food, and this here spot where we took the photo he showed us all kinds of plants. If you look closely to the left, you will see our ship- the biggest cruise ship on the ocean.

Here's our photographers (Miche and Linzi) and our driver.

Day 5 was Grand Caymans. We spent our day swimming with the sting rays at Ray City- pretty amazing. Then we did some snorkeling. We ended our day early to allow Corban a much needed nap and to stick to prepaid food.

Feeding the Sting Rays.

A favorite thing- soft serve cones at anytime of day and as much as you want. Corban just enjoyed the cone. This was our balcony...we received this room after suffering through a night of a sewer-smelling room.

Thanksgiving Dinner. Noni kept up with the tradition of providing Kinder Eggs for the contest of the best toy. Here they are setting them up for the vote- even our waiters got into it.

This was the culprit of Jared not going to Cozumel. He looks talented enough to not get injured, however, once you fall off that board, you get whipped to the top of the slope and slam against the wall. Not exactly the best thing for a previously injured shoulder.


Spectators. We all probably should have stuck to this position.

Day six was Cozumel. This was out scuba diving in Cozumel. Beautiful water made for a perfect dive. As mentioned above, Jared was not able to join us on this portion of the day due to a deadly shoulder pain.
Kimberly taking advantage of the late night dessert plate- I there is one of everything on that plate!
The last day we did actually have a business meeting. You can see how serious Corban thought it was.
It really was a fabulous vacation. Thank you Larsen's for making it memorable! We can't wait until the next vacation!

Setting Sail

Since we will be gone for the next week, I thought it would only be appropriate to leave something to enjoy. Here is his new learned trick:




I guess all that dragging down the stairs actually did teach him. He all of a sudden was coming down by himself. He likes to stop in the middle of the stairs and just stand- that makes me nervous, but he seems to be fine.


Hope to have lots of fun pictures from our next week!

Adventures of Corban

Everyday I have to take Nika on walks to go to the bathroom. Almost everyday Corban comes on at least one of those walks (the other times he is either left with his father, or I just leave him to play in the family room by himself- they are short walks, so don't be too alarmed). When Corban does get to go, he LOVES it! I just carry him because I don't think it is worth pulling out a stroller. From the moment we start walking out the door, he is perched over my shoulder, looking around, smiling, and enjoying the fresh air. He loves it when there is a bit of breeze- he smiles and squints his eyes a bit. Today as we were walking (keeping a steady pace), Nika would stop to smell, and then all of a sudden start running up the hill past us. Corban would just giggle at her every time she did it.
I also just bought him a potty seat. I set him on it at least once a day just for fun. Tonight I thought it would be fun (for me) to see if I could catch him needing to go potty and put him on it at that moment. So I left his diaper off. HA! I went to put the seat on the potty (literally seconds after putting him down) and I come back to him peeing as he is reaching for the button on the DVD player. Needless to say, there was no more pee to go into the potty by the time I grabbed him and rushed him to the bathroom. He wore a diaper the rest of the evening.
About that button on the DVD player (actually the XBOX), he LOVES it! It is the button that ejects the disc, so you hear the disc going in and out. Occasionally you will hear the flipping of the tray as he is grabbing on to it. I am sure I will be sorry in the future, but it really is adorable to watch- he is pretty careful about it- and very precise with the pressing of the button.
He is still so adorable as he is falling asleep. He still does the whining, moaning thing as he is drifting off into slumber land. That is something I will totally miss when he stops. I took a moment tonight to just hold and rock him as he drifted off (while moaning). I couldn't help but think how these moments are flying by. In heaven, I want to come back to this perfect state!

Embarrassed

I am sure that no one has thought a thing of it, but I must make a comment on the subject. With all this commotion of my name being on the "harass" list, the amount of our donation is plastered all over the universe. Something that I thought would have been very personal has now become more than just public. This was first a problem when my employees started getting phone calls and that was one of the key phrases the callers would use, "She donated $XXXX towards hate." Not really something you want your employees to know about you...especially when the hate part is not true.
Well, I am definitely NOT trying to draw your attention to it, but in the case that you are wondering how and why the amount, may I refer you to an earlier post made back in the beginning of this venture. We are not at all as wealthy as we may appear, but Heavenly Father let both Jared and I know what we were to give. I have had to remind myself of that many times as we have been going through this harassment. In addition to the "ouch" factor, had it not have been as big of a donation, we might not be receiving the attention that we have. I am in no way regretting the decision. My prayers were answered. I am grateful for the strength it is giving me- I think it is going to be necessary for the future battles.