New day, new couch

Tara and I seem to finally be – at least slightly – adjusting to the change in time. We didn't stay up ridiculously late last night, and woke up at a decent time this morning! Now, it's 11:07 p.m. and I'm definitely ready for bed tonight. . . good sign.

Today was a fun day, and plenty full! We went to Jamesville Beach where we met the rest of the ward for a BBQ and some beach time. There are four or five other couples just like us that moved in over the past couple of weeks for graduate school. The main difference between us and them though, is we seem to be the only ones without kids. . . pretty soon I'm going to be one of those weird people that writes their pets names on cards and things before they have kids! (Don't tell Katie I said that!) :-)

The beach itself was interesting. The lake reminded me of Hyrum dam, except their were houses all around it. Pretty much each house had a power boat docked behind it, but we were there for a good four hours and never saw a single power boat out on the lake. I though that was a little weird considering it was Saturday on the 4th of July weekend, and the lake obviously allowed powerboats. The public beach was a rather small affair and was sectioned off, maybe a couple hundred yards long. The actual swimming area out in the lake was also sectioned off and rather small too. Lifeguards were on duty to make sure no one went outside the established boundaries. Overall, it was a fun day though. I helped grill and Tara helped some people with their kids and everybody loved her Frito Salad (thanks Idona!).

After the party we went and looked at a sage microfiber couch that we saw on craigslist this morning. They were only asking $100 for it, and it seemed like a solid couch. On the way out, we bought some ratchet straps so that we could transport it in the X-terra if it would fit. We loved the couch and offered them $80 and they took it. . . SCORE! We laid the seats down flat in the back of the X-terra and we were just able to fit the couch in the back with about an inch to spare. It was obviously longer and hung out the back a couple of feet, but we strapped it down and it worked like a charm. It was even pretty light, so Tara was able to help me lift it up the stairs. She didn't even complain too much. . . even though she has been a little bi-polar the last couple of days! ;-)

Now all we have left to find is a desk, and we should be set! Here are a couple of pictures of the new apartment, a better picture of the balcony view and even one of the new couch!