Tacoma Field Trip

It's been awhile since we lasted posted so here's our update. Last week we went to Tacoma for my arhcitecture field trip and Lyndsay came along to expierience a few days in the life on an architect....ok she really just wanted to come hoping she could find things to entertain herself besides looking at buildings and walking all over the place. The drive to Tacoma was quite a long one as we didn't leave until Lyndsay got off work at 6:00. We didn't arrive at our 5 star hotel or maybe it was 8 since we stayed in the Super 8 and boy was it "super."

We decided that instead of driving our car around down town on unfamiliar roads we would opt to utilize public transportation. The first day we woke up early to catch the bus and as we stood at the bus stop we began thinking, "what if this isn't the right bus?" because the sign on the bus stop didn't make sense as to where we wanted to end up. Just then we saw another 500 route bus on the opposite side of the road and then stopped on the other side of the intersection from us and then I said, "I think thats our bus." Indeed it was, we were early and everything and we still missed the bus, we were infact waiting at the 500 north and we wanted 500 south. Its always seems to be an adventure whenever Lyndsay and I take public transportation. We probably would not do very well if we were selected to participate in the t.v. show Amazing Race.

We did get to see some cool stuff in Tacoma but overall there wasn't much to do because we didn't know where to find it or it was just to far to go. Lyndsay did find a few changes to shop but it wasn't anything she was super excited about. We got all architectured out because of the lack of alternate things for her to do to keep her busy while I went to meetings and architecture firm vistits. And there was alot of walking I mean alot of walking so we both were pretty tired.

School has finally picked up for me and I am super busy with assignments and work. I feel like I'm always on the go but hopefully next semester will be a little less hectic but then I'll be dealing with senioritis. Lyndsay is still keeping busy with work even though things have slowed down now that all the students are situated. She has plenty of time to read now. So here are some pics of Tacoma.

Mt. Rainier from Tacoma, I'm pretty sure its visible from pretty much everywhere in Washington.(ok maybe not but its huge.)

Inside Union Station and a window that is decorated with Dale Chihuley's Glass work.

Tacoma Glass Museum

Union Station in Tacoma.

Bridge of Glass filled with Chihuley work.

More Glass works in the ceiling of the Bridge of Glass.

And More.

And more.

And More.

And more.

MORE!

More.

Tacoma Dome.

A glass vase or pot or something with really cool tree designs in it.

This glass thing is so cool its such an awesome color of blue with a green rim that it seemed to glow. Really cool.

So there you have it, well some of it anyway I have more pictures but I'll spare you all this time (actually its so I can actually post this since I started it a week ago.) More to come I'm sure as I celebrate my 1/4 of the way through life mark. hahaha.

July is coming to an end

Well there isn't anything too exciting as of late to be reported up north. Lyndsay and I are just enjoying the summer days together even when we are melting from the heat. We have been fortunate to be able to spend lots of time together as newly weds as I go to work with her except when she works at the library and evenings together after she is done with work. We have been filling our time with watching movies and shows we've been getting from the library which mostly have been British shows which we both enjoy. There is just something about British shows. We have mostly been spending quiet evenings at home either watching British shows, doing a puzzle, playing a game, or reading. Last week we went to an activity which only 4 other couples showed up to but Lyndsay and I just wanted an excuse to go swimming and drove out to Spring Valley Reservoir in Troy Idaho just outside of Moscow. The reservoir was no bigger than Eagle Island state park but it was refreshing as the surface was really warm and the bottom had cool under currents moving through it. The activity also included eating hot dogs and elk burgers but the elk burgers weren't anything spectacular as one might expect (at least me anyway).

Yesterday we decided to drive down to Lewiston to see if we could get a few errands out of the way such as changing Lyndsay's social security name and seeing about switching out my phone for one that works properly more then 40 percent of the time but to no avail we didn't accomplish either of those tasks. At the social security office we needed the certified copy of the marriage license and not the original (stupid technicalities) and then the Verizon store wouldn't let us do anything about my phone because my name isn't on the account so I'm not authorized to have access to any of the information regarding the account. It was funny though that when we asked if we could pay our portion of the bill and the guy told us the total amount due and then said "crap I wasn't suppose to tell you that , oh well we'll take your money anyway." The other good news about my phone was that when I switched the plan over to a family plan it voided the 1 year warranty on my phone thus making it impossible to switch it out for free and would have to pay 50 dollars to switch it out which the guy was going to be helpful and just have me buy 50 dollars worth of accessories for the new phone, oh the joy of dealing with these sorts of businesses. We also went to the mall in Lewiston which I have to say is the saddest little mall I've ever seen. Bring back good memories Caitlin?

This Saturday I have the opportunity to work for our landlord unloading tents for his Internet business which he runs called the pack saddle shop. He has 2 huge semis that need to be unloaded so for doing that he will take 10 dollars an hour off our rent so that will be a nice break for next months rent. I sold a book on half.com the other day and its been listed for at least 3 months and no other places would take it for money and I ended up getting 15 for it which was nice. The selling of my car is an on going adventure from scam email offers to a person who bought it and returned it. I still get some people expressing interest in it and I have one right now who may buy it but we'll see. Hopefully I get it sold soon so we don't have to bother with it anymore and be able to rid ourselves of the blue jelly bean once and for all. We purchased my books for school form amazon and Barnes and Noble trying to save some money. The bad news is that means school is just right around the corner which is actually exciting to be finishing my undergraduate work, its hard to believe I've almost got 4 years of college under my belt. Well that's all from the northern front for now unless Lyndsay decides to amend anything.

Lind Family Reunion

Well we made it back up to Moscow from Smokey Lodge which was quite a drive but not bad considering Eric wasn't battling falling asleep. We only managed to take, I think one picture the whole time we were on this little trip and the above is it,Lyndsay and I before we headed back up to Moscow stopped in at the Red Fish general store to look around. This was Lyndsay's first Lind family reunion and now she knows where I come from and why I am the way I am. Lyndsay thought the reunion to be fun and enjoyable as we participated in the traditional events such as Kickapoo Root beer drinking, pinatas (even though we didn't get a turn), Bingo, and the whole Smokey Lodge atmosphere. We also went geo-caching with Ryan, Caitlin, Elise, and Jared which turned out to be alot of fun. We finally found a geo-cache we had looked for the year past and never found it but thanks to Elise and Jared we finally figured it out which was entertaining to say the least. We then went to another geo-cache location around Perkins Lake. After following the trail and the GPS directions I (Eric) found the geo-cache in a hollowed out log off the trail and opened it up to deposit a trinket and take one in exchange and got some awesome magnets. Geo-caching is exhilarating and is literally like treasure hunting. We also spent a chilly day at Red Fish on Tuesday jet skiing. The wind was blowing and the water was freezing cold because of a late thaw which happened around Memorial Day. So every time going out one could not stay out to long because of numbness in the limbs and even occasionally a brain freeze. It was still fun even if that water was cold and the wind blowing, Lyndsay and I caught the sweetest air ever in the history of Dad's jet ski. We hit a boats wake just right and it was a huge swell which resulted in Lyndsay and I getting the entire jet ski out of the water and those from shore attested they saw land underneath the craft at about 2 feet completely out of the water. This was quite a rush adding to the excitement of the entire vacation.

After getting back to Moscow the excitement seemed to continue when we got into cell phone service I noticed 3 new voice mails on my phone two of which were for a job that I applied for at the University of Idaho as an Arboretum grounds keeper and was selected for an interview so called back after listening to the message and set up an interview for Thursday morning. I was 1 of 35 who had applied for the position but better yet 1 of 4 selected for an interview so I hope I get the job. I'm still waiting to hear back. The other message was a call about my car from someone who sounded ecstatically interested so I called him back and he wanted to come right over and test drive my car. He showed up and didn't ask many questions at all but just seemed to excited to just buy it and go. He drove it down the road and back but kept trying to start out in 2ND gear so I had to keep reminding him. After the very very short test drive he said I want to buy it and then haggled over price and agreed on one and he said he needed to go to the ATM to get the rest of it so I thought he wasn't going to come back like most people who have said that. I was wrong though when he called back 15 minutes later with the money and we then made the transaction and as I was filling out the title he started asking questions about the car he should have asked before deciding to buy it but he still wasn't asking many questions that helped him know more about the car so I didn't have any idea he was buying the car as a commuter but thought he was buying it as project car as I had it listed for online. So after the transaction was complete and he got in and drove my now sold car away. I felt that he was going to not be happy with it because he didn't take any time at all to research the car and ask questions and really get a feel for the car....kinda reminded me of me when I first bought the car. I had to have it and so I did and wasn't happy with the result but he was quick to buy and it took me by surprise so I went with it which I shouldn't have but when you don't say I'm not looking for a project car I'm looking for a commuter doesn't help me out at all in helping the buyer out. Anyway I went back inside to eat and I called him back to get the mileage on the car for the release of liability form. Then he asked more questions about the car that would have been good questions to ask before buying the car. Then after that conversation he called back 5 minutes later and asked more questions about the car and then said I had a friend who knows cars look at it and its bad news. Then proceeded to accuse me of ripping him off and that he didn't want the car and wanted his money back because he wanted a reliable commuter which he said I had told him which I most certainly didn't. If he would have read the online ad more carefully he would have noticed that I stated it was needing work and would make a great project car which implies there is work to be done on it cosmetically and mechanically. And asking why its being sold as a project car would have been a really good question to ask. I'm venting now so lets get the story back on track. He came back and I gave him his money back and needless to say he wasn't pleasant about it but more so then expected. I got the title and the car back and now am back to square one and that was such a stupid ordeal and I lost my appetite for pizza. He lost out on 30 bucks because he put 20 in the tank and I told him a new title would cost 8 bucks so he gave me 10. I went to the DMV the next day and turns out I don't need to get a new title so I did the honest thing because I don't rip people off so I sent him his 10 dollars back and put a note in it explaining that and stating that I was sorry for the misunderstanding. So fun times trying to sell the Jelly bean its cursed I tell you, it just keeps coming back. So that was the excitement for the week.

The Beginning

Now that Lyndsay and I are getting ourselves situated here in Moscow (Idaho not Russia) we decided that it was time to start blogging, so here is our first post so don't expect fireworks or anything exciting like that. Lyndsay has been working six days a week with the two part time jobs that she found at an antique store and the Moscow Public Library. I unfortunately have not found a job yet but have had an interview at Good Will and a call from Pizza Hut but the guy never called back to set up the interview because he was at another store location that he owned. So Lyndsay has been keeping me busy by taking me to work with her which has worked out nicely for her when it comes to lifting heavy furniture, she comes and gets me. I have been able to help the store owner with pickups, unloading and moving things around for a little pocket change which is helpful.

Other things that are going on are that I've put my car up for sale and haven't been able to sell it yet. I've had a few people ask about it but nothing serious. The car is still that black whole it was when I got it and is still the abominable enigma its always been. I decided to fix the radiator hose since its leaking profusely and the coolant will all leak out in just a short trip. After finding out that radiator hoses are inexpensive I bought one and as I was taking of the old hose discovered the real reason behind the leak. The radiator itself where the hose connected had deteriorated to the point that it had become brittle and had cracked so the new hose wasn't going to fix the problem, so I bought a cheap radiator off eBay and will fix the whole thing. So the problems just keep coming.

Well I'm sure there is more but Lyndsay's work is where we have Internet and she's about done for the day so she will have to fill in blanks and add pictures.