Monday, June 29, 2009

Groceries



I was really proud of my grocery outing last week. For everything you see above, I paid...

$46.33!

2 bags of tortilla chips
2 gallons of milk
chicken breasts
1 lb 81%lean ground beef
1 pork roast
1 pork loin
1 loaf bread
1 pkg hamburger buns
2 onions
2 4-packs yogurt
2 boxes onion soup mix
1 bottle olive oil
1 vitamin water
1 bottle ketchup
sugar
1 box quart freezer bags
4 boxes cereal
1 box wheat thins
1 box ritz
2 travel size toothpaste
1 travel size lotion
5 wholly guacamole (to freeze)
5 wholly salsa (to freeze)
12 disposable razors (to donate)
12 kool-aid pkts (paying $1 for all these, saved me $2 on the sugar)

Sunday, June 28, 2009

...on the Arkansas!

I admit, I was wary. But now that it's all over, I can eagerly report that whitewater rafting is one of my favorite pastimes. Not only am I alive, but Mark only had to save me four times. A big thanks to my in-laws for planning the whole thing, and Independent Whitewater of Salida, Colorado, for safely guiding us down miles and miles of river.

Brown's Canyon-6/16/09

After we realized that we were being photographed, we stopped doing this...

Here's a better picture. Mark and I on the left in front of Chris, the trainee, and Mark's sister and brother-in-law on the right in front of Keir, the guide.

Here's a good shot of Keir. The other boat's guide, Miller, may have won the "nice guy, awesome mutton chops" award, but Keir definitely won the "best guide" award. It's an ongoing argument.

...and, another shot of our boat.


The Royal Gorge-6/17/09

I wish I could document the Gorge better. But all I have is this silly picture. Seriously, everyone else is paddling, and amidst the air in my head, I am thinking, "Look, a man with a camera...smile."

I did find this old newspaper image on the national park service website (nps.gov), but I couldn't tell you where it came from originally. This picture captures the Gorge pretty well. I wanted a picture from our vantage point (looking up), with the river, rapids, bridge, and scenic railway.


The only thing you can't see is the miles and miles of old wooden pipeline attached to the rock along the river. As you might expect, it is in horrible disrepair, but still amazing. I found some pictures, but, again, I couldn't tell you where they came from. Suffice it to say, they are not mine.




The Numbers-6/19/09

On the 18th we had a "day off" to rest. It was sad that I was sick all day, but good that I was sick that day and not any other day during the trip. By Friday morning, I was fit as a fiddle (well, fit enough to fiddle), and ready to face our most intense miles of river.


By, Friday, we had mastered the synchronized paddling. These picture are taken in succession so you can kind of get a feel for it.




If you jump in this hole, you are supposed to be able to go under the rock and back out into the current. This is a picture of the hole after Mark jumped into it.

Here I am getting ready to jump in.

Here I am stuck in the hole because I wasn't heavy enough with my life jacket to get deep enough to go under. Terrifying. Finally, and without warning, the current sucked me under and out. I just wish I'd had some air in my lungs when it happened.

Our guide took this picture as we were about to hit a rapid. Mark and I are on the left.

Everytime Mark jumped off a rock and into the river, I made him kiss me...in case he didn't come back up. This time I didn't, and he was under water for a LONG time. I almost started screaming. You can see me there on the right, looking concerned. It's hard to tell from this picture, but the 2000 square feet per second of water is pouring through an 10 foot wide narrow.
I wasn't brave enough to jump off the rocks, but I did wade upstream a bit, dive into the river, and then swim the rapid through to the other side of the narrow. Here I am before,

...during,

...and after Mark and his brother rescued me from the current I wasn't strong enough to swim out of on my own. I'm the V on the left, Mark's the V on the right.

And, to sum it all up, a heartwarming picture of us, our boat-mates, and our guide (taken before we started the numbers.)

Sunday, June 7, 2009

WARNING...

...lots of pictures!

There are quite a few I have neglected to post. So, let's play catch up:

In April, Emma, Mom, Evelyn, and I went to Kansas together to visit Evelyn's maternal-maternal great-grandma and grandpa. She loved the farm. "Ouside, ouside" is apparently quite a novelty for city kids. Here she is playing. For those of you who knew my siblings and me as children, who does that look like? Scratch that. Anyone can play...it's not that hard.

Here she is playing her new favorite game, "giddily jog down the length of the feed trough."

Emma and Evelyn spent some time in St. Louis with Mark and me before flying back to the city. Em and I took her to Kirkwood to visit...

...OUR CHILDHOOD HOME. Well, one of them, anyway.

A few weeks later, my dear friend, Amy, came to visit. We picked her up at the airport and drove straight to St. Charles to buy a piece of furniture I fell in love while antiquing with my mom a few days earlier (pictures coming soon). Then we made her run various additional errands with us. In order to convince her that visiting us would actually be fun, Mark made crepes! We had additional friends over and made quite the evening out of it.



During her stay, Amy and I drove up to Nauvoo. She has attended two Barrett weddings in Nauvoo, but hadn't ever had much opportunity for sight seeing. So I indulged her.





(We MADE that rope! I hopped up a down a couple times to show off my jump-roping skills. Result: a throbbing headache. It was a sunny day.)

Once back in good 'ole StL, we went to the botanical gardens.

Don't knock the umbrella. It was a sunny day. Seriously, though, I heard this kid ask his mom, "Why does that lady have an umbrella?" Humiliating.

We went to the arch as well, but refrained from standing in a long line to cram ourselves in an antique pod elevator that would take us to the top of the arch, a vantage point from which you can't actually see the arch.

Instead we stayed on the ground and took pictures. In the following picture it almost looks like you could wrap your arms around the base of the arch...

...but, really, you can't.

I know, I know...it's cheesy:



And of coarse, we spent some quality time with Mark as well. He made baguettes and needed a couche. The only other preface I will give to these pictures is that we are dorks, and Mark used to have a plain white tee:







Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Walgreens

I didn’t plan on doing any Walgreens shopping this week because none of the advertised sales really interested me. But I realized I needed mascara and decided to see if I could work a deal. After brainstorming a bit, getting lucky, and scouring the sale items, I ended up getting the following:


Transaction 1:


$10 Bayer Contour digital blood glucose monitoring system
Free Ecotrin 45 count (with $2 off coupon)
I got a $10 reward for the Contour and a $2 reward for the Ecotrin

Total out of pocket- $10.78

Transaction 2:

$12.99 Revlon hair dryer (regularly $20)
Free Ecotrin 45 count (with $2 off coupon)
I got a $10 reward for the dryer and a $2 reward for the Ecotrin

Rewards used- $10 from Transaction 1
Total out of pocket- $3.22

Transaction 3:

Free Ecotrin 45 count (with $2 off coupon)
$1.59 Coconut Lime bodywash soap (clearance)
$5.29 COVER GIRL MASCARA (the reason I needed to go to the store)
$.89 Crystal Light drink mix (with $1 off coupon and clearance price)
$.89 Crystal Light drink mix (with $1 off coupon and clearance price)
$1.49 Karo light corn syrup 16oz (clearance)
$.49 Ground Cayenne pepper 2.82oz (clearance)
$1.59 Cutter bug spray 6oz (with $2 off coupon and clearance price)
I got a $2 reward for the Ecotrin

Rewards used- $10 from Transaction 2, $2 from Transaction 2
Total out of pocket- $0.31

Transaction 4:

Free Ecotrin 45 count (with $2 off coupon)
I got a $2 reward for the Ecotrin

Total out of pocket- $0.00


After all transactions, I spent $14.31, I have 3 $2.00 rewards for future purchases, and I will get a $10 rebate by mail for the Bayer Contour. That means I will be reimbursed for all but $4.31 of my purchase, which is less than the cost of the mascara (the reason I went to the store in the first place). AND, I still have $6 of free stuff coming my way.

I needed a hair dryer. The one I have is a second-hand freebie that is on its last legs.
I will donate the Blood Glucose Monitoring System.
Mark’s been asking me to buy more ground cayenne pepper.

So, all in all, it was a pretty successful trip. Wouldn’t you say?