Top 4 Summer 2014

After graduating college, there are very few reasons for writing anything longer than four sentences at a time. This is actually pretty sad because I actually do like to write. So now I will give my phalanges a long overdue work out. 

Top 4 Noteworthy Things Worth Mentioning of Summer 2014

1. Settling In: Once Patrick got a job, we realized we would be living in our apartment for a long time. Suddenly all the little things that I didn't really notice because I thought we would be moving soon, became items to improve. We started with our kitchen knobs. We originally thought about buying new knobs, but they are SO EXPENSIVE! So we decided to spray paint what we already had. Our knobs were a variety of dull brass hues-- UGLY. We researched how to refinish knobs and we did it. Patrick sanded them down by screwing the knob to his drill (thanks Greg and Janis) and spinning the knob while holding the sandpaper in his hand, pressing it against the rotating knob. Ingenious idea, Patrick! It worked like a dream and under the dull brass we found beautiful shiny metal. I did all the spray painting. We painted them black. When we were all done, the knobs came out uniform and clean. My thumb, however, did not. Meet my finger puppet, Stripes The Zebra. Next time I'll wear gloves.

Once our knobs were black, I decided that our table should be black too. I found a table on Craigslist. Since we live in a college town, buying a table in early June, was not hard at all. The table was listed for $100. I went into the negotiations with five twenty dollar bills in my wallet. I wanted to barter for the table, but I could only barter in twenty dollar increments. When we saw the table, it had quite a few superficial scratches. I was super nervous, but I just asked, "would you take $80?" He said "sure," like he didn't care at all and we started loading up the truck. We knew we needed to refinish the top of it, so we took one of the legs to Home Depot and had the "paint expert" match the color and sheen. She did a great job with the color matching and a TERRIBLE JOB at selling us the right paint. We didn't do our research before doing this job, only after it was too late. Turns out wall paint is all wrong for furniture. The table was eternally sticky. Sooooooooo we sprayed the top with a clear enamel and now it is smooth like furniture should be.

Our "new" kitchen.

We also got curtain in our home. I love them. They really change the look of the room, especially when you can't paint the walls.  

On the to do list:

• Fix the crack in the door
• Install new toilet paper holder

2. Family Vacation (AKA the Tour De Waterparks): We took a road trip to Utah and stayed with Patrick's sister and family. They just moved into a new house; new to them, that is. It is actually a really big old house that they are fixing up. It was nice to hang out with our niece and nephews there.

On the way to Utah we stayed in Boise and went to the Temple for a morning session and then went to the water park. Water slides are just pure joy. Patrick's favorite part was going down this capsule release slide.That night we left for Utah. After only 45 minutes on the road, we were corralled off the freeway to a truck stop. Apparently there was a fire very near the interstate. Due to some road construction, we literally had no where to go, we couldn't even go back to Boise if we wanted to. We just had to wait in our car with the hundreds of other cars that were stuck. After about 3 hours of waiting, they got the fire under control and let the cars through. We were so tired by then.

While in Utah, we got to go to Chris and Liz's wedding. Chris is one of Patrick's high school friends. It was nice to meet them and Patrick's other friends that attended. It's funny going to Utah with Patrick though, because everyone there calls him Pat. Sometimes I call him Pat just to see if I can, but it always feels strange. 

Later in our vacation we went to Seven Peaks with the Thomas'. It was the absolute best day to go to the park because there were threats of thunderstorms. Our tickets came with a warning saying Seven Peaks could shut down the park at any time for inclement weather and we would get no refund. Risky risky. This bad weather warning deterred most everyone. The longest we had to wait for a ride was maybe 10 minutes, but most of the time, there was no wait time at all. This turned out to be exhausting because we'd climb up the 4 or 5 story tower, slide down, and then immediately do it all over again. When there is no reason to stop or wait- you don't. At 5:30pm it started pouring rain and we were forced to remove our lazy bums from the lazy river. After some time, they closed the park and everyone had to leave. Before we could even return our tube and locker key, the sun came out and the sky cleared. Kind of a bummer, but we definitely got more than our money's worth that day.

3. Sand Castle Contest: In August, Patrick's mom invited us to go watch a sand castle building contest in Lincoln City. We were interested in going, but when I looked into it I found out the contest was open to the public to enter. So we decided to enter! 

Since this was our first time entering, we knew nothing about it. On the drive over to the coast, we decided to build a train coming out of a tunnel. Turns out there are categories and you have to enter into one of them. So we signed up for the Pairs category. It was the only one where we could build whatever you wanted. Jerome and Sally were there with us, along with Tulia and Weston (niece and nephew). Jerome picked a real nice plot of land for us and we started building. Here's the thing though, since we were in the pairs category, we couldn't have any help from our family. This is a problem when you have two active little kids who want to do what you're doing and a Jerome Beesley who can't help but help. :)

As we built, spectators would walk along and comment on the sand sculptures. It was really entertaining to hear what people would say about our piece. Mostly they would take stabs at what we were making. We got all sorts of guesses: A mummy, a giant, a chihuahua, a train. It was a real break through when people started guessing a train coming out of a tunnel. It was a huge compliment when people would say stuff like "you're gonna win for sure."

When we finished our sand sculpture, we took a stroll to look at the other works of art... and piles of sand. There were some pretty impressive ones.Turns out, there were only 2 other entries in our category. At the end of the day, they announced the winners for each category. Guess what-- WE WON! We won $100 and a ribbon (we didn't get to keep the ribbon though). 

Things to remember for next year:

• Bring another flat head scraper tool
• Bring 2 spray bottles
• Make sure the kids and Jerome enter the contest

4. Debt Free: Our major goal/new years resolution this year was to pay off all of Patrick's student loans. Fortunately, my parents paid for my schooling, so I didn't have any student loans. Thank you mom and dad.  In September, we made our last payment and became free from debt! Yippy! 

We wanted to celebrate our victory, but it just seemed too ironic to celebrate by spending a bunch of money to do so. We decided to buy two balloons, go on a hike with them, and at the top, release them. It's all symbolic and stuff. 

We first went to Chip Ross, but it was closed due to the recent fire. So we went to Mary's Peak instead. Neither of us had been there during the daytime so it turned into quite the little adventure. It was a bit of a drive, but the views were worth it. While hiking up, Patrick popped his balloon on a thistle. He was very sad boy. But we still had my balloon, so we hiked on. We made it to the top, had a little photo shoot, and released our balloon. It was a fun way to celebrate for us.

POP!

 Happy Fall 

The other day my friend, Stephanie, made these delicious Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blondies. They taste like Autumn. Here is the recipe:
 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blondie Bars

Yield: 12 small; 9 large bars

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup pumpkin
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8x8 square dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Stir in egg, vanilla and pumpkin. Pour in all dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread dough evenly into prepared baking dish. Bake 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean after being inserted. {My oven is hotter than the sun, so mine was done at 15 minutes. Keep an eye on yours!} Remove from oven, cool 5-10 minutes, cut into bars and serve warm. Or wait and serve at room temperature. But of course I can never wait.

Pass Go, Collect $200

Be kind, rewind. Okay, don't mind if I do. Here is an abbreviated version of the past couple of months. At the end of the post I will share some big news (feel free to skim the pictures and go right for the jugular, if you would prefer).

Patrick finished up his senior project (the human powered wheat mill); graduated, had a graduation party with his BFF, Spenser; and kept searching for a career. All of that stuff was really great, except that searching for a job part. Applying for jobs has to be one of the most excruciating activities mankind has ever conjured up, and willingly continues to practice. Just this last week, Patrick ran a booth at the OSU Engineering Expo. He showed off his team's bike wheat grinder. While he was at the Expo he was filmed for 2 different engineering promotional videos. I didn't know my husband was going to be a movie star. He enjoyed the expo so much that he has already decided that we will take our children out of school so they can go to the expo.

All 4 Floors of Kelly were packed.

Patrick's Booth at the Expo.

We had a brief Monopoly stint, where in Patrick and I both decided that Monopoly is a terrible game for the loser and the winner. The loser loses and by the end, the winner just feels guilty for taking your money. Anyway, did you know that in 2013 Monopoly added a new game piece and retired another? What are they? For all you non-Monoploy buffs, the cat is new this year and it is taking the place of the iron (which was an official piece for 78 years!). 

The Saturn died. The wreckage yard gave us a couple hundred for it, and we salvaged the hubcaps and sold them on Craigslist. I'm a little jealous that he sold the hubbies so fast because I've been trying to sell my wedding dress on Craigslist to no avail. I've received 3 responses for it and they have all been completely sketchy and definitely fraud. The world has some real jerks. 

I was the one of the first 100 people to get in line on opening day for the new Papa Johns Pizza in town and now get 1 free pizza per month for a year. My coworker told me about the promotion, so we both played hookie from work to go stand in line. Worth it. 

I waited with Katie and Ian.

Bought Frozen for $5 at Red Box. I recently found out that most Red Box locations have a 'for sale' section. You can buy movies that are no longer new enough to be in the box, for only $5. It's so great, I think I'll watch it tonight. 

Went to a Peter Breinholt concert. I had never heard of him before, but I loved the whole concert and now listen to him regularly. In my head I keep wanting to call him Brian- oops. His most popular song is probably "What About." Check Brian out sometime. 

Patrick had plenty of interviews. The most exciting one was for a company called Terex up in Redmond, Washington. They flew him out there to interview and he got to explore the city on their dime. Despite the fact that they were paying for his accommodations, he bought cereal and milk at Safeway for breakfast.

Patrick also passed the FE (Fundamental Engineering) exam! He has been taking an FE review course for 9 weeks and then studied from a 700 page study guide. He is now Patrick Beesley, EIT. Kudo points for anyone who knows what EIT stands for. It means Engineer In Training. The initials at the end of the name thing is pretty awesome, but engineer in training sounds so junior to me. I'm proud of Patrick. I'm so glad his hard work is paying off. 

Study face.

 The Kevan and Krislyn wedding is next weekend. The event is highly anticipated. This will be my first time going to a sealing in the temple (that isn't mine). My grandpa Woods is sealing them. After this one, he will have sealed all of us siblings to our spouses. Pretty special.

My Pinterest craft for the wedding. It is a box for the cards.

Went to the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory. In all my years living here, I had never been inside. They were having an open house, so we went on a tour. It is the largest wave research labs in the US and universities from all over come to test their experiment there. I don't know what it is, but there is just something so mesmerizing about waves. I could just watch them all day.

We went to Krislyn's ballet performance. They did a gospel rock version of Esther. It was so fun. It turned into a dance party at the end. This year we didn't buy tickets to the ballet, but we were able to go to 2 performances because the ticket holders were out of town (thanks parents and thanks Davidsons). We will be buying season tickets for next season! You can check out the company here: Ballet Fantastique.

This is the actual dance party that occurred after the performance.

We're dating.

 THE BIG NEWS!

Patrick got a call Tuesday morning from Hollingsworth and Vose. Patrick's very first interview was actually with HoVo, but ultimately he got beat out for the job. Well Tuesday HoVo calls up and asks Patrick if he is still looking for employment. Uhhh... Yes! Apparently the other guy they originally hired, didn't work out. They remembered how fantastic Patrick was and decided to offer him the job. Patrick gladly accepted the job. He starts June 2nd. HoVo is located in Corvallis and makes high quality fiberglass. Patrick is called a project engineer, so he will have a variety of projects and problems to solve. 

We had actually turned in our 30 day notice at the beginning of May with a move out date for the 31st. I had given Patrick an ultimatum that if he didn't have a job by the end of May, we would move in with my parents. When we found out that Patrick got the job in Corvallis, we contacted our property managers to see if it was too late to keep living in our apartment. They said they had already approved the next tenant and we would have to move. I was pretty bummed because I actually like our apartment and haven't seen anything better online. About 3 hours later, our property managers call us up and tell us that another apartment opened up in our complex and the tenant that would have moved into our place is willing to just move into the other unit. 

It is amazing to me how everything works out. Patrick and I really trusted the Lord and moved forward with faith as we waited to get good news from a company. We recognize how blessed we are, completely acknowledging that Heavenly Father has a plan for us.

Top 8 Surprises

Where we are in life: 

Patrick graduates from OSU in about a month. There is no job, as of yet. This week is the career fair. Once Patrick gets a job, we will be able to plan our life. At this point, I can't see beyond March, so it kind of feels like the world is going to come to an end in 30 days. I'm still hopeful, and we are both very optimistic about the situation. If you hear of any mechanical engineering jobs, let us know. 

Although, finding a career is a high priority in our lives, it doesn't consume our whole life. As for catching up on what we have been doing, I've created this "Top 8 Surprises of Febraruy So Far...."

Top 8 Surprises of February 
(who actually pronounces the first "r" in February?)

1. Kevan is getting married to a Ballerina. 

Patrick and I went to Krislyn's Ballet performance last week. She dances for Ballet Fantastique; a Eugene ballet company. This was the first we had seen her dance (other than that one time her and Kevan attempted to do ballet jumps in the living room). She is so a beautiful, strong, graceful dancer. Most surprising discovery to me was that ballet shoes are loud. I guess the ballarina's need some structure in their shoes, if they are going to STAND ON THEIR TOES!

 

Krislyn was a Rain Goddess.

2. It snowed 18 inches in Corvallis. 

This was surprising, but not as surprising as what we came home to after the ballet.

6 FEET OF SNOW on our front back porch. Someone had piled it there. Naturally, I was paranoid that somehow this was a threat to our lives. Like someone was burying our house and they were going to bury us next. It was just so weird. I had Patrick check every corner of our apartment. About five minutes after we got home, the Louderbacks broke. They couldn't contain themselves and confessed to the act, along with Brent. Thank goodness it was a prank and my life wasn't actually at risk. The most surprising part of this event was that the snow acted as insulation for our gliding glass window and we were just a little warmer during the polar vortex.

A week later.

3. We got Local Boyz at work. 

It was one of my coworker's last day of work, so we we had a farewell party catered with Hawaiian food. It also happened to be the first day of the "snowpocalypses." Add that all up and it resulted in all you could eat meat, rice, and mac salad.
Pure indulgence.
Pure carnage.
Biggest surprise of the party was when Brandon discovered that a syringe is actually the perfect instrument for applying"da sauce" (soy sauce) all over your food.

4. I haven't seen Frozen. 

 I really want to see it. It comes out on DVD March 18th. Mark your calendars- I will be watching it. Yes, you can join. Biggest surprise of today was that Patrick realized the voice of Elsa in Frozen is the same person who is Elphaba in Wicked.

5. I love the Olympics.

  Carrot Three Carrot Three Carrot Three  (AKA <3<3<3). My favorite sport is probably the biathlon, which is X-country skiing mixed with shooting. The biggest surprises of these winter Olympics is that nobody is really doing exceptional. I feel like when I watched the last summer Olympics, world records and Olympic records were being broken left and right. This year it's more like the athlete's are just trying to finish the course without crashing.
Both styles of Olympics are thrilling, just in different ways.

6. Valentine's Day was full of surprises.
I've learned early in marriage that if you want Patrick Beesley to get you a gift for any holiday (including your own birthday) you must explicitly tell the boy what you want- pictures and charts help too. This year for Valentine's day I wanted a box of heart-shaped Jr. Mints. I saw them at the store and told him right then that I wanted them for V-Day. He immediately said, "Well, great. Let's get them right now." To which I responded, "No, you have to come get them secretly." This concept always seems to boggle him. The next week, we were at the store again and I said, "You know what, Patrick, we should just get those mints right now." To my dismay, all of the heart-shaped Jr. Mints had vanished without a trace. Let this be a lesson in procrastination.

For Valentine's day I got a gift from my husband. It was wrapped in true Beesley form-- in a sweater. In that sweater was a box. This is the box:

It says, "IMAGINE THEY'RE HEART SHAPED."

Also, boys and girls are different.

Guess which card I wrote and which one Patrick wrote.

7. Maybe I've been spelling my last name wrong.

I went onto familysearch.org today. I had never explored the site before, so I got curious. It was mind blowing. The oldest line I found went all the way back to 830 AD. Once you go back far enough, nobody has real names, they're all earls and lady's of places that probably don't exist anymore. Anyway, to my surprise, I found 4 different spellings of my maiden name. The current spelling is "Willes," but I also found a "Welles," "Willis," and "Wyllys." I even found an ancestor named William Wyllys Willis. That is just too much "will" power.

8. Finally, panda people scare me.

Whenever I see this car in the parking lot, I think there is someone in the passenger seat. Not only a person, but a big furry person. It is creepy. Please, stop.

Happy FebUary.