The Future Home of the Reed and Sandi's Future Home

Idaho: The Not So Final Frontier

Feeling hungry for a road trip, Roo and I jumped at the chance to take the 2 1/2 hour drive north to visit his dad in Pocatello last weekend. After one last taste of civilization at the Gateway Mall where we bought some shoes, we headed out. We made our first pit stop at Maddox Ranch House where I had quite possibly the best strawberry pie that has ever been consumed. Plus there was an abundance of steak, potatoes and senior citizens! We spent the drive trying to keep Lando entertained and we were all happy to get out of the car. We went to see Roo's parents' property. They bought ten acres on the side of a mountain just outside of Inkom, ID and they are building a house on it. The land was absolutely beautiful! The glow from the setting sun made the hillsides a brilliant green. And the view down the valley was unbeatable! For the next two days, we spent time on the land, drove through the very small towns, and sampled the very unique culture that is rural Idaho.

Now, we never though we'd say this, but after having steak two days in a row, letting Lando run leash-free through the hills, and watching the sun set from most perfect mountain perch, Idaho just might be starting to grow on us...

Annie and Lando taking in the Idaho scenery...

Living free in the mountain air.

The Phillips live on the top floor of a warehouse in the industrial side of Pocatello--Much like their future home, their current home has a good view too :)

   

 Sampling the local cuisine, and the local characters at Oliver's Cafe, downtown Pocatello. We've never seen more beards, trucker hats, or farm talk.

We love The Swell Season!

The Swell Season

Ever since seeing the movie Once, I had fallen in love with the music of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. And ever since Roo fell in love with me, he's been willing to do lots of things that I find interesting. So when we found out that Glen and Marketa's band, The Swell Season, was coming to SLC, we bought tickets within minutes. 

On May 2nd, after meeting up with our friends Sarah and Drew for a yummy Cheesecake Factory dinner, we all went to the concert together. Thankfully, I was old enough to get into the club...:) Because we were only a few rows back from the stage! The music was absolutely amazing! And even though the guy standing in front of me seemed like he was at least 6' 4" and 300 lbs, and I had to do a lot of straining and standing on my tip toes to see anything, it was still one of the best shows I've ever seen. These people are REAL musicians. They played all the songs we knew and a few that we didn't (but that we love now), and one of our favorite parts was when the whole band sang a Bob Dylan song "Forever Young" as a fantastic final number.  We had such a great time! We saw IRONMAN after the movie, and needless to say, it didn't quite compare to the concert. Maybe I'm just not big on battling superhero robots--or maybe The Swell Season was just a really hard act to follow. 

Lando

This slideshow was specifically made for all those whose sandals Lando has stolen and refused to give up, to those who he jumps on uninvited, whose toes he chews on, whose babies he barks at, and whose carpet he pees on--

My hope is that we can prove that he can actually be really cute and lovable...at least in photos! 

One day we took Lando outside to frolic in the park. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and there was a lovely little butterfly fluttering about. 

"Look Lando, a butterfly!" we said. How cute it will be, we thought, Lando will play with the little butterfly, like a sweet picture in a child's coloring book. Then in one fell swoop, the beast bared his teeth, he leapt into the air, and snatched the innocent butterfly out of the air. The next thing we saw was the bug's last living moment as it fell out of the dog's mouth and was then gobbled up. Then Lando trotted happily on. No coloring book pictures here.

This pretty much sums up Lando--he isn't exactly what you'd expect. But he looks cute and we LOVE him and his big personality!

Check out my Slide Show!

Alive and Working

Roo and I have both started new jobs so we can pay for our new apartment. I am working as an administrative assistant at Uphill Corporation. The company makes all sorts of backpacks, laptop cases, art bags and even stadium cushions. Uphill does embroidery and supplies bags to most universities across the country (including the U and BYU) as well as the Church. The office is small and modest, but they are growing steadily, giving me tons and tons of work to do and lots to learn: invoicing, customer service, accounts payable, payroll, art design, getting art approvals, doing lots and lots of emailing, and licensing--and I have to water the plants. So, needless to say, I stay busy and so far, overwhelmed. On my first day, I was supposed to be busy filing, but after overhearing my boss talking movies with the I.T. guy, I put in my two cents--informing them that the movie they were trying to remember was called The African Queen. From then on, the I.T. guy kept asking my opinion on movies, and my boss was thoroughly impressed. Whether or not I can be an office assistant is still in question, but I can at least talk movies with the boss. So maybe things will be okay.

Roo is working at the U of U in the Geophysics department. They're mapping what's underneath the United States. Sometimes I wonder if they would rather be talking movies...