Partial Park Tour 2012

Val Gal had a math competition up at Utah State on Wednesday. Then her ward was coming to do Baptisms for the Dead at the Logan Temple later that night. Instead of driving back down on a stuffy bus only to come right back up to Logan, she asked if she could come chill with Bill and I for a couple of hours. But of course!

I got off work a bit early and managed to find Val in a swarm of Junior High kids at the Taggart Student Center. She picked up a Turkey Sandwich for me when they told the kids they could have seconds, ate my Cheetos, and got me a cup of Aggie Blue Mint Ice Cream. Val's a winner...except that she ate my Cheetos. ;)

So what do sisters do for a few hours whilst chillin' in Logan?

We went Park Touring! I wanted to show Val all my favorite parks in Logan, and try to get to as many as we could in the couple of hours before my parents came to get her. There are 37 parks in Logan plus 4 future parks that you can visit...but do nothing but ooo and awe at some dirt. Here's a list of those parks and their addresses for Loganites. And there's a fantabulous park in River Heights that one MUST go to. 

We went to fifteen parks or so in about two hours. We didn't stop and play at all of them, but we got out of the car, played on some playgrounds, walked around walkways, sat on some benches, and took pictures by signs so that we could ensure that the park visit counted. 

First, we went to Adam's Park, the park closest to mine and Bill's Apartment. It has the best swings and the fastest/most-dangerous-to-bigger-bodies slide!

Val told me she's trying out to be a cheerleader at NOJH this year. I asked her what kinds of things you needed to be able to do to even try out for something like that...because I'm definitely not the one to know such things. She told me that you need to be able to do a Round-Off and the Right Splits. I had no idea she could do either one, so she showed me! Where in the world did she learn that?!? I remember when Jord could even do the splits when he was little. I apparently missed out on that gene. But I think it's dang cool!

Then realizing I had crummy shoes for Park-Touring, we drove back to the apartment, grabbed my Tennis Shoes, and snagged a couple pieces of bread to go feed the Ducks at the "Canyon Entrance Park" (aka: First Dam).

A lot of the ducks had wonky hair-dos going for them, but they sure were fun to feed. And they sure weren't afraid to approach you. Including the geese...which Val and I are both slightly terrified of. Then we went to the Harry Potter tunnel and played with our voices and looked at the faded chalk graffiti.

Oh Canada!

Supermodel Val.

Jess's has got a wonky "Duck-Do" too.

We then decided to cross the street to the Ray Hugie Hydro Park. There's never been an issue with parking there every time that I've gone there, but apparently it's a private road...because someone actually owns a little house right there. I found this information out when I saw the Logan City Truck come driving at me on the little narrow street. Feeling over-confident in my backward driving skills and trying to get out of his way, I managed to drive backwards into a tree...yes. I'm really good at things like that. But luckily I had slowed down by that point and was really just trying to park to get out of the way. I just misjudged the distance between Lex and that tree. No harm. No accident. No dent in the bumper...just a whole lot of embarrassment when the Logan City Truck Driver rolled down his window and said, "Oops." He then explained to me that I wasn't supposed to be on that road...we promptly left without playing at that park.

We then explored the majority of the parks down in the Island. Including little pocket parks, like Sumac Park, that I had almost forgotten about. 

We went up to Cliffside and hung out at the highest altitude park. Then we went to The Point and sat on the bench and admired the view.

Since being down in The Island takes you right into River Heights, we decided to make a stop at Ryan's Place Park. It was Val's favorite! It's still one of my favorites as well.

Val shared with me her love for gymnastics and how much she wished she were in them. She told me that all her children are going to be in gymnastics. Even if they hate her for it. ;) I will be the most encouraging aunt in the world for those kids. Especially if they if they get to the Olympics.

We went back to The Island and hit five parks simply by walking across the street and touching a patch of grass.

As our window of time was growing smaller and smaller, we decided to go to Angel's Landing park and basically hit another five parks in one. Every time I go to Angel's Landing and teeter-totter, I'm bound to make little-bodied friends. The teeter-totter is magical. Val and I met a little boy from Evanston, Wyoming who couldn't believe we had already been to ten parks that day! And we did little tricks with two little girls who discovered they could ride the tee-totter with no hands.

We then took turns in the Puke Chair and I was sick. Puke-Chair-Sick.

But we had a blast going around the town and exploring little places dear to my heart. I have a fond memory in each park and it's always fun to create new ones. Dad swung by at 5:00 to pick Val up. We didn't have more than two seconds to chat, but it was nice to see Pop's face. :)

I'm glad my sister was able to come up and chill with me for the day. We had a good time and now she has a little bit more of an idea of why I love Logan. 

Money, Money, Money. It's So Funny.

I shook the piggy bank relentlessly upside down, causing all the money to fall out of the little Piggy's hole and onto the kitchen table. I kept thinking about the opening scene to Toy Story....

     [Andy is playing with his toys and mimicing the voices of his toys and holding Mr. Potato Head]
Andy (as Mr. Potato Head) All right, everyone! This... is a stick-up. Don't anybody move! Now empty that safe!
     [Andy empties Hamm the piggy bank and coins fall out]
Andy (as Mr. Potato Head) Ooh, hoo hoo! Money, money, money!
Andy (as Bo Beep) Stop it, stop it you mean old potato!
Andy (as Mr. Potato Head) Quiet, Bo Peep! Or your sheep get run over!
Andy (as the sheep, on the track) Help! Baaa! Help us!
Andy (as Bo Beep) Oh no! Not my sheep! Somebody do something!
Woody [voice box] Reach for the sky!
Andy (as Mr. Potato Head) Oh no! Sheriff Woody!

The change falling from my Piggy's bottom had been in my possession since I was probably five or six. My pennies and nickels originally lived in an empty peanut butter jar. Then mom gave me a Sleeping Beauty Bank. Then I transferred all of my change to a cute Teddy Bear Bank. And finally, when I was 16 or 17, my change found home in an actual Piggy Bank, piggy noises included when you fed it coins.

I can remember several instances where I would dump all my change onto my bedroom floor and count my change for hours...especially late at night when I really didn't want to go to bed. I've since realized that counting change is kind of therapeutic to me.

Then there was the night that I counted out over $100 in loose change. That was extremely exciting to a kid!

Naturally, when Bill and I got married, my Piggy Bank came along as part of my dowry. Having to do laundry through coin-operated machines eats up your extra quarters really quick - including those quarters in my Piggy. And one day those quarters were gone...

.........................................................

Bill and I have created a budget at least 3 or 4 different times over the course of our 9 months together and nothing ever seems to stick. On Bill's dad's recommendation, we attended Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University at BATC with our friends Al and Loraine back when we were engaged, hoping to start our marriage off on the right foot. And so we did! We accomplished Baby Step #1 by creating an Emergency Fund, and then we got out of debt - minus our student loans. Then we stopped and didn't finish up the rest of the Baby Steps. 

We didn't really have any financial struggles and we weren't in constant fear or where our next meal was going to come from. In fact, we ate like a king and queen...and I gained weight! ;) But it seems that we blow money whenever and wherever as long as there was money in the account...and we're not exactly saving anything.

We finally decided to take things seriously. At last. On Friday night, for date night, we worked through our finances. We went to America First and rearranged our bank accounts and created an envelope system for groceries, gas, and allowances. We logged everything into QuickBooks and we now have a perfect understanding of where everything is coming and going! It's kind of exciting in a really nerdy sort of way!

When we came home from the Credit Union, we realized that we still had my Piggy Bank that we hadn't accounted for! Now that we had created a VERY specific plan, we ran to the Dollar Store and bought 3 bags of coin rolls and paid the cashier 32 dimes. I saw kids in elementary school always pay with change, and the other day at work, a lady paid for her print job in zip-lock bags of 100 pennies, but I had never done it myself. Now I can take pride in being able to number myself amongst the change-payers of the world!

To make it a true date night, we dished up huge bowls of chocolate chip ice cream, turned on an episode of Top Gear (a HILARIOUS British car review show - this is a snippet from my favorite episode) and began counting out pennies, nickels, dimes, and sans quarters (thanks to our weekly tribute to the Laundry God).

The task looked daunting at first, but it actually turned out to be a lot of fun! And dirty. Counting change makes your fingers black.

When we were through, we came to a total of exactly $60.00 in change, only after we found a penny in the couch and leftover change on top of the dresser.

What were we going to do with this massive amounts of change? Take it to the bank and EXCHANGE IT ALL for quarters. We figure it'll get us through the next 3 or 4 months of laundry. :)

I can't wait until we have a house with our own washer and dryer!

And thus begins our new and official budget as husband and wife! We've totally got this! And to live up to the Dave Ramsey motto, we're going to "Live like no one else, so that one day [we] can live like no one else." :)

Happy budgeting!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neigborhood

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Logan?

Quite a few times.

But yesterday that was reaffirmed to me. And I'm experiencing nostalgia. 

As a student as Utah State, I am privileged to wander around on one of the most beautiful campuses everyday. The campus is just as sensitive to the seasons as the trees are in Sardine Canyon. But wandering campus is only so exhilarating when you follow the same path day in and day out.

The summer after my Freshman year, Taylor Anderson and I finally got off campus and began living in the Logan neighborhoods. We realized the significance of little insignificant driveways and 627 1/2 East apartments. We park-toured through all of Logan City and had Family Home Evenings up little Green Canyons. I ran every other night through the dimly lit streets of west-side Logan. Sketchy? Quite. But so memorable it could never be forgotten.

Then school starts again...and you're swept away into a monotonous routine that you follow everyday. You go to work, you go to school, you live in your little shared bedroom studying homework until the early hours of the morning...when really you're just watching YouTube videos with your roommates. And often times you drive to your boyfriend's apartment to watch Top Gear with his roommates. Really? You don't get out much. And it's bitter Logan-cold.

Then your boyfriend becomes your fiance! And then he becomes your husband! And holy Hannah! LIFE is bliss in your cozy little apartment and you can't get enough of seeing one another! And you've got bills to pay. So you go to work cleaning campus apartments every day for the summer. As much as you love USU...sometimes you just need a break!

And school starts again. And you get a new job in Providence! A little break-off city you know you could come to love if you had time to explore. But you go to work and suddenly have to book it to class when you realized you worked five minutes too long to make it to Bob's class on time. Then you come home, work on the computer, and develop an inflamed tendon in your thumb because you sit inside in front of the computer for too long everyday. You need sun.

Then March 12 comes along. It's Pop's birthday, the University is on Spring Break, and the day is BEAUTIFUL! You come home to all the windows of the apartment wide open with a lovely breeze blowing through! It's sunny, the bathroom is clean, the sheets are changed, and you can't help but love the feeling of complete and utter sunshine in your heart! The weather is contagious. 

So contagious your husband catches it too.

He even suggests you go on a walk...and it's been such a long time since you've done that. :)

We walked and we walked and we walked. We walked streets I had never been down before. I was in complete awe of the individuality of Logan's little homes and millions of obscure apartment complexes. There is a place for everyone to live. Don't even doubt it! I got house-hungry. I can't wait for the day when Bill and I can buy our own home - paid in full with cash. Wouldn't that be so neat? Logan was unveiled before my eyes all over again! Gah! I LOVE THIS PLACE!

Bill and I got so caught up in our walk, before we knew it, we had walked down to Main Street! Dang. The time just flew by us and the fresh air must have got to our heads. 

We could see A&W's from the corner where we stood. We were tempted by the thought of a Root Beer Float. But we're trying out a new budget and realized that a Party Pail of Ice Cream from Smith's has a lot more value in it than a Styrofoam cup from A&W's. So we walked over to Smith's and bought a Party Pail of Chocolate Chip Ice Cream and a bottle of Root Beer and walked home! Yes! We walked! We didn't drive! And we passed pocket parks, crossed over canals, and met up with felines. My life was complete with Root Beer in one hand and my husband in the other.

I love Logan. And I just want to thank the weather for giving us that taste of Spring before it's truly due to arrive. LIFE is grand.