Shiny new toys

So we decided it was time to move up in the world and buy a new grill so that I (Paul) could be more of a man and learn to cook outdoors. So after weeks of searching, I finally picked out the perfect one.




So we started simple with some burgers and sausages... even tried steaks one night. Then last night natalie threw together some beautiful kabob type things with chicken, peppers, and pineapple.





Well in the middle of it, this part of the midwest got put on tornado watch and there was tons of wind, lightning, and of course... loads of rain... which ironically, is something we really like about living here. So, wanting to protect the shiny new grill and the delicious food, I did the logical thing and moved it closer to the house where it was protected by the little bit of roof that hangs over. Well, you know how you never want to break or damage your shiny new toys? Well, the grill is fine, but I melted a good chunk of the vinyl siding on our shiny new house.




I then proceded to stare in disbelief and shout one of my favorite words... "CRAP!!!" Yup, I'm pretty much an idiot. Natalie thinks we should just tell people that lightning struck our house. I suppose that would sure make me come out looking a lot less like a fool.

Luckily, the previous owners of the house left us a box of new siding that was the same color and everything. The other day I fixed some leaky valves on our washing machine faucets and I've been feeling like a handy man, so without having a clue what I was doing, I threw on my chemistry goggles, busted out my new saw, ripped the siding off and made it look all pretty again. In the words of Napoleon Dynamite, "YESSSSS!!!!!!"




I don't think Natalie would have been very happy if there was a permanent melted blob on the backside of our house, so I'm glad everything worked out in the end. So learn from my stupidity... don't cook with the grill too close to the house! Even if its raining.

Update

I'm sitting here alone at work for the next 3 hours and realizing that we haven't blogged in a L O N G T I M E!!! We've been busy, what can I say. So here's a quick update on what we've been doing since Paul turned brown...

We are now proud first time home owners!!! We moved out of our lovely rental and are now enjoying the bliss that is homeownership... realizing that we never thought about having to buy a hose or toilet seats or dealing with wood curtain rods that were NOT designed to hold up my wardrobe. I'm lovin' my purple countertops, actually we try to scratch them so we have NO excuses to hold onto them for any longer than necessary. I'm having fun picking paint colors, kitchen cupboard and drawer hardware, buying my first real couch (our last set was a dumpster find...shhh don't tell the many people who have sat on them for the past 7 years... he he!)

The day of the main move I got sick, really really ucky sick. My muscles ached, couldn't talk, couldn't sleep cuz I was coughing so much.... therefore I was a BIG help in the moving process. And it meanth that our house was in DISARAY... I didn't know where anything was, nothing got unpacked, total chaos which I HATE! Then I got Paul sick, he wasn't quite as bad, but he tends to get a lingering cough which has been bugging him for a while now. It was convenient that we were coughing on the plane trip we took... people don't seem to sit by coughers, can you say swine flu paranoia? We got a whole row to ourselves the way back... LOVED IT!

We travelled 18 hours total to go see my WHOLE family in Idaho Falls. 3 hours to Chicago, 3 hour flight Chicago to Salt Lake, 3 hours Salt Lake to Idaho Falls... then repeat in reverse. My little brother went through the temple for the first time and we all got to be there and see him for the last time (for some of us) before he goes on his mission to Wisconsin. It was awesome to see everyone and see how much the kids have grown, I miss my family tons out here in Iowa!!! And paul and i got to dink around temple square for a while while we waited for our plane to leave. It was sooo pretty with everything in bloom, they had a beautiful bed of tulips and poppies that I LOVED!! 2 of my favorite flowers!

Now we're back to normal life. Working, trying to unpack and make my house a home, trying to get back into the workout routine which was ruined by moving/being sick. Turns out it really stinks to run outside in hot/humid weather... mental note to self. Paul's undertaking the task of finishing our basement family room. He's a bit intimidated by it, having never done it before but he's finding lots of people with knowledge and skills to share, so it should be fine(?) keep the finger crossed for smooth sailing. I'm planning out my painting projects and wanting to plant a garden... I may have to kick out our bunny friends that like to hang out in our backyard and are SO cute.

That's us in a nutshell. I'll try to come back and edit with some pictures later.