We Are Thousandaires

LT Fromage is still in the ‘stan. So much for him coming home all sorts of early. As of right now, the window of return is somewhere between September and February. Not much beyond that is clear either. Which classes he’ll attend, where and when haven’t yet been assigned. We’re in limbo right now, which totally sucks.

The one and only good thing about deployment is the money. Yup, LT Fromage is my sugar daddy.

I am proud to announce that as of Monday, we have no more credit card debt!

Thanks to the deployment money, a few checks we weren’t really expecting to see, the pending sale of my truck, and some serious penny pinching, we’ve been able to bulk up our savings, and even allot some money for a vacation!

The Fromages will be traveling to… get ready…

Bali!

I’ve literally been dreaming of Bali since reading “Eat, Pray, Love”, so I am crazy excited to make it a reality! Sort of one last hoorah, since once LT Fromage starts his new job he’ll be deploying every 6 months and shortly thereafter, we’ll have kids. Traveling will never be impossible, but it’ll be harder the longer we wait.

I’ve only wanted a few things in life,

So far I’ve crossed off –

Travel to AZ for the Colorado Rockies spring training – March 2008
Get married – September 19, 2009
Travel to Italy – September 21, 2009

In the works -

Travel to Bali (late 2011 or early 2012)
Have kids (fingers crossed for a baby belly in 2012!)

Leaving only -

Eat at Dogmatic in New York (I could kick myself… I’ve been to NY twice, yet never eaten here!)
Drive a tank (For $500, I can do that here… 27^th birthday present? Perhaps!)

And my ultimate goal…

Own a Holstein named Sir Loin

Yep. I dream big.

100 Things

I’m speechless (Not really. I’m never speechless), this is my 100th post. In honor of this mile stone, here are 100 things. Not really related things, funny or impressive things, but 100 things none the less.

My list of 100 things.

1. My highest score in solitaire is 735. Which is the highest possible score. NBD
2. I can reach 97 WPM with 97% accuracy
3. I can hold my breath for 1:14
4. Jolly Ranchers always give me hiccups
5. I love grilled cheese sandwiches with sliced jalapeños
6. Or onion and tomato
7. Or dipped in ranch dressing
8. Pretty much anything can be dipped in ranch dressing for that matter
9. I was home schooled until my senior year of high school
10. When I was a little girl, I had an imaginary friend, a horse named Acorn
11. I broke my left ring finger in high school and set it myself, it still bothers me when it’s cold out
12. I love Splenda
13. I add red pepper to hot chocolate, it’s so yummy
14. I’m terrified of earth worms
15. When I was little, I killed a butterfly in a jar using a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol, even though my mom pleaded with me not to
16. I’ve had a stereo stolen from my car and my house broken into twice
17. I worked in an animal shelter where I had to euthanize peoples unwanted pets, I quit working there when I realized I had stopped feeling sad about them dying
18. Ringo is my favorite Beatle
19. I carry 3 types of anxiety medications at all times
20. I starred in the spring musical my senior year in high school (Once Upon A Mattress)
21. I was awarded “Most Improved Dancer” by the cast
22. My favorite color is green
23. I have prosopagnosa (face blindness)
24. I burp when I yawn
25. I read really, really fast
26. I’m not sure if I believe in ghosts, but I am sure that if they’re real, there are some in my house
27. My favorite number is 27
28. I always tip at least 20%
29. I have giant feet, some of my shoes are size 10 ½ wide
30. I had to buy men’s hiking boots because they don’t make women’s that fit me
31. I can’t hike anymore because of patella femoral syndrome in my right knee
32. I love cemeteries, I find them peaceful not creepy
33. However, I do have an abnormal fascination with death
34. I love the old Window’s Entertainment Pack with Chip’s Challenge, Rodent’s Revenge and Tetris
35. I hate the number 35
36. I bruise very easily. I’m afraid most people think LT Fromage must beat me at home
37. When I was little, I had a crush on the Nickelodeon cartoon character Doug
38. My favorite Starbucks drink is the pumpkin spice frappuccino, but when it’s out of season I order a caramel frappuccino with a half cream base
39. I have a paw print tattoo behind my right ear, in memory of all of my pets I’ve lost and the ones I’ve had to put down because there was no room left for another unwanted animal
40. I can fall asleep anywhere, any time. My parents used to think I had narcolepsy
41. I’m the oldest of 4 children, 2 of whom my parents adopted. I love my family so much
42. LT Fromage and I laugh all the time. I’ve never seen a couple who laughs so much and can be so silly, except maybe on TV
43. Last New Year’s Eve I caught our kitchen on fire making breakfast. The fire department had to come put it out
44. We now own a fire extinguisher
45. I love tanks and have a small collection of 1/144 scale miniatures
46. My favorite tank is the Stingray, but it was never mass produced
47. I’ve only been on public transportation once in my life and I was terrified
48. The Office is my favorite TV show
49. I’m also recently lovin’ Arrested Development
50. LT Fromage and I went to Sicily, Italy for our honeymoon, which was amazing except…
51. Our luggage was lost in Rome, so we didn’t have our things for the first day
52. Also, the water was out 50% of the time, so we only showered every other day
53. And we ended up sleeping on separate couches because the bed was so uncomfortable
54. I’m terrified of stopped school busses
55. I dated a guy who went to Annapolis, later married a man who graduated from West Point but was never involved with anyone from the Air Force Academy, despite living only an hour away, while the other schools are on the east coast
56. If while walking, an object is between me and my companion, I have to repeat the phrase “bread and butter” until we are no longer separated
57. I get nosebleeds when I’m nervous
58. I got two nosebleeds on our wedding day (one about 5 minutes before walking down the aisle. In my white dress. The second at the reception immediately before pictures)
59. I had nosebleeds all the time when we started getting frisky, which is a pretty good mood killer
60. I love diet Pepsi, but usually buy Sam’s Club brand diet soda. I won’t touch diet Coke with a 10 foot pole
61. Generations ago, my family owned the Coca Cola company
62. I once stole an Obama sign from a deli window and am guilty of removing an Obama bumper sticker in a parking lot on at least one occasion
63. I didn’t grow out of stuffed animals like my mom predicted I would. I still sleep with “Sir Loin”, a cow LT Fromage gave me for our first Christmas (He had no idea when he bought that cow that he’d be sleeping with it 3 years later)
64. I once ripped the seat of my pants dancing with my friend at a gay club
65. I also ripped the seat of my pants at a county fair while showing my dog
66. My current favorite pair of jeans are wearing thin in the bottom, so to prevent another rip I’ve duct taped them on the inside
67. I live by the phrase “If you can’t duck it, chuck it” (except sometimes I use another work that rhymes with duck)
68. The song “The Reason” by Hoopastank makes my ears hurt, much the same as nails on a chalk board does. Only worse
69. So does the sound of the new Sun Chips bag
70. I don’t believe in the territories
71. I also don’t believe in umami
72. I once cut off my own skin tag with nail clippers
73. I can’t swim
74. I had no idea it would be so hard to think of 100 things. Eff, what was I thinking?
75. My favorite color is green
76. I was raised Protestant, but converted a few years ago to Roman Catholic
77. I got to stay in a Monastery when I was in New York for LT Fromage’s graduation
78. At the present time LT Fromage and I own 2 dogs, 2 cats, 4 rats and a frog
79. Our older cat can sit, speak and roll over, the younger can speak and sit up to beg
80. I own and can shoot, disassemble, clean and reassemble my own gun (Ruger SR9c)
81. T-Rex is my favorite dinosaur
82. If it was socially acceptable, I would totally hole up in the house and never come out. Except to pick up an order of green curry (to go, of course) once in a while
83. I have to sleep with one leg out of the covers
84. I love stadium nachos and M&Ms. Yes, together
85. Blue M&Ms are my favorite, even though I think the Red M&M on the commercials is the best
86. My current favorite commercial is the Geico “Bird in the Hand” one
87. Or maybe the Skittles Tube Sock
88. Or the shake weight, because that is too crazy funny, and not on purpose
89. My birthday sometimes falls on national donut day, which is great, because I love donuts
90. I also love cheese, anything to do with cheese, and also green curry
91. I’ve read my favorite book, Life of Pi at least a dozen times
92. I basically live in my “Nothing Tips Like A Cow” hooded sweater
93. I’ve got a space heater with a remote, it’s set up so that I can turn it on to heat the bathroom before I even get out of bed in the morning
94. I’m a die-hard Colorado Rockies fan
95. I love cooking
96. But I can’t bake and always end up frustrated when I try
97. I live for Christmas and, before I was married, would bring out my (artificial) tree on November 1st
98. Now we wait until the first day of Advent and buy a real tree
99. I love antique stores
100. I hate funnel cake

Until Monday....

Happy Anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. Wunderlide

What a wonderful weekend! We stayed at the Hotel Phillips, a beautiful hotel in Kansas City, where we were surprised with chocolate covered strawberries in our room with a card addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Wunderlide. The strawberries were great, the room was lovely, but Wunderlide is not our last name. Close. But not right. (Last year, our honeymoon suite offered a bottle of champagne and a note for the Weatherfords, which is again, not us. We’ve got a tough last name, it happens a lot.)

LT Fromage planned so many fun things for us to do; we started with Mediterranean food on Friday night and saved room for Kadayif, a dee-lish cheese/pastry dessert. We had a yummy breakfast at the hotel on Saturday and then went to the City Market, a 145-stall farmer’s market to check out all the treasures: fresh produce, spices, breads, jewelry and other trinkets. We shared a big bag of kettle corn and freshly squeezed lemon and limeades and went home with a cow bobble head and a bag of Spicy Thai dried pasta (I can’t wait to make it with peanut sauce!).

We had planned on eating Indian food for lunch, but nixed it to try Grinder’s. The valet recommended it to us and when he mentioned it was featured on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-in’s and Dives we decided we had to check it out! LT Fromage got the Bengal, one of their featured pizzas, which is a Northwest India inspired pie covered in tandori chicken and crab. I ordered the Fun Gi instead. After removing everything that had once been alive, I did take a bite of his, since it was the one Guy ate, and it was so yummy! As if the dining experience wasn’t cool enough, there was a garage door across the street painted like a cow, where I insisted we pose for a picture. (I wish we could upload pictures, but right now our laptop is dead and on its way back to the store to be repaired. I've got my camera phone and lifted images from google in the meantime!)

Of course, it rained on Saturday afternoon, and not just a little, it poured. It was reminiscent of our honeymoon where we battled rain all but one night. The weather didn’t stop us from strolling (under the cover of eves) and stopping into shops to look around downtown.

Saturday night we had intended to see “Going the Distance” but couldn’t find a theater showing it, sadness, so we just chilled out for a while before going to the WaterFire show on the river where they lit big fire pits all down the river. There was music, fire dancers, food, drinking and some other cool stuff. Sadly, the rain caused a late start and early finish, but we had a great time anyway.

For dinner LT Fromage had picked a tapas bar, Extra Virgin. Neither of us had ever been to a tapas bar before and it was a great first time! We enjoyed caprese salad, and tried the chick pea fries which were so yummy. I picked the Garrotxa “Cati” cheese that was recommend by the waiter, LT Fromage was daring and ordered Fried Duck Gizzards. I kid you not. Ew. He said he liked them, however. We were so full after we shared a baked pasta fromaggi and a bottle of Riesling.

On Sunday we had Ethiopian food for lunch and some of the best hot spiced tea ever. We bought 2 miniature beer steins at the River Market Antique Mall, which is 4 stories and full of the coolest goodies, including the dinner set I grew up using, the one my parents registered for at their wedding almost 30 years ago! Does that qaulify as antique? I'm not sure. It was fun to see, though!

LT Fromage found a perfect card that made me cry and then laugh at a reference to our “terrible” first year of marriage; he bought me a gorgeous diamond and sapphire journey pendant necklace. He was thrilled with the 17-inch tall beer stein I found for him. We braced ourselves for some wicked freezer burn and cut into the top of our wedding cake. It was surprisingly not that terrible (just like our first year of marriage!).

(Aren't you digging the black and white floor tiles and the cow spots on my fridge? I love my kitchen!)

I hope you all had equally wonderful weekends!