11.30.2010

Black Friday

I can guarantee that we had a better Black Friday experience weather wise than all of our Utah friends. Devin and I "bundled up" in our fleeces and were perfectly content waiting outside at Target. We heard the news that Utah was nearing single digits and we felt very fortunate that Arizona was in the 40's at 3am. So yes, we waited at Target but we decided not to camp out. We really wanted to get a new TV this Black Friday, but all of the "amazing" deals were on brands that we had never heard of so we decided to keep looking around. We did however, get great deals on presents for almost everyone on our list this year. I made a list of everyone we were giving gifts to and the count got up in the twenties so Black Friday was a must! We had a couple of minor let downs (a long story would be sure to follow so I'll just have to tell you in person!) but overall Target was a success.
We went home and slept for a couple of hours and went on the mini-golf outing mentioned in my previous post. Then Devin convinced me to muster up enough courage to take on Walmart. Walmart on Black Friday has always seemed like the scariest thing someone could intentionally do to themselves, but it was later in the day so we went. We ended up finding more deals there than we had at Target. Without spoiling any gifts we got people, I can tell you about what we got for our home. We got a 46" Sony LCD TV and it is GREAT! We also got an LG Blu-Ray DVD player that can hook up to the internet so we can stream netflix straight to our TV...I can't wait! We also got a much needed printer. The printer was $20 and came with $30 worth of ink for free...I'd say we made out like bandits! We had a minor fiasco paying for our purchases because we were out of state and making a large purchase, VISA and UCCU thought our cards had been stolen. We had fraud services calling our phones non-stop and even after we verified who were were and verified the purchases, our cards were still frozen! We had to trick them by just going to the ATM and taking the money out that way. So luckily it all worked out and we got our TV we've been looking for for MONTHS! On the way down to Arizona Rush had the entire back seat, but on the way home, his luxury was compromised. We were just lucky to fit the TV in the back seat of my car with only 1" of clearance. We couldn't have planned it more perfectly if we had tried!

When we got back to Utah we rearranged everything and now our living room feels a lot more homey!

Thanksgiving 2010

This year for Thanksgiving, Devin and I ventured off on our own to visit my grandparents in Arizona. It was one of the best trips we've ever been on together. Devin was a trooper because he had just gotten back from working in California on Sunday at 5 am and we left Monday in the late afternoon. I wanted to get down there as soon as we could because we don't make it down there very often (Devin still hadn't even met them yet!) and I wanted to spend as much time with my grandparents as we could! It was so cute, when I told my grandma that we wanted to come, she said that she was tickled. I told Devin and he didn't believe that she would say tickled, but at Thanksgiving dinner, she said it again and he was amazed!
Our stay was very relaxing and we were able to bring Rush along! By the end of the trip, Rush was best friends with my grandparent's dog, Ben. Rush has so much fun having other dogs to run around with that he often forgets to settle down. But now that we are home, we are seeing the effects of the trip on Rush because he has been asleep non-stop since we got back. This is the position we find him in the majority of the time...

He had never been on a long car ride so on the way down he had a hard time falling asleep. I think that if he could talk he would have been constantly asking "Are we there yet." He never whined though and we were glad that he was invited!

Even though Rush can't talk, I know what his favorite part of the trip was. The doggy park. (I have to admit that it was one of my favorite parts of the trip too!) The Doggy Park has two fenced in areas where people can bring their dog(s) to run around with other dogs without leashes! It was amazing how well kept the area was and how many dogs were there! Pictures will come later, but while we were there, there were over 20 dogs! Rush was in HEAVEN! There were water bowls and tennis balls everywhere. Rush made so many friends and all of the adult loved him too! Every dog I saw, I wanted! There were about 4 other Shelties there and it was amazing how little Rush really is. I mean, we knew he was the runt of his litter, but compared to the other Shelties, Rush was dinky! Oh it was SO much fun!

Thanksgiving Day was great too! My Aunt Loraine, Uncle Randy, and Aunt Eileen came to my grandparent's house as well. It was fun for Devin to meet them and to share stories. (I got to show off all of my wedding pictures again and I appreciate their interest!) We ate and played games and watched the Macy's Parade. It was fun, but having all of my dad's siblings there made it hard that my parents weren't there as well! It was funny to hear stories about his childhood as the youngest of the family though! We had a really great time and my grandparents were so sweet and generous opening up their house to us.

The day after Thanksgiving was BLACK FRIDAY and I'll have to do an entire separate post, but Devin and I decided that we didn't want to waste our last full day there by sleeping so we slept for a little bit and then woke up at a decent hour. We all went mini-golfing and it was SO fun. To make all of you jealous I will let you know that Devin wore shorts and a T-shirt and didn't get cold once. I wore a light cardigan and got a little too warm. I wish I could move to Arizona in the winter and come back to Utah for the summers! That would be the life.

I guess I've gone on enough about our trip but it really was so amazing to take a little road trip with Devin to visit family. My Grandma said to me a couple days into our stay, "Well now we know why you wanted to come down here and show Devin off!" They just loved him and could tell how happy we were together. We had such a good time and we can't wait to take another trip down there!