there's a world we can visit if we go outside

This past week was a really, really good week. I ended up inadvertently getting a 4-day weekend, which allowed me lots of time to relax but also be very productive at home.

For Christmas Zach got a gift certificate from my parents for a very fancy restaurant downtown [Capitol Chophouse] that he loves. We wanted to use it to celebrate our 1-year anniversary which is February 10th, but found out a week beforehand that the gift certificate was ineligible between Feb. 10th and the 15th for Valentine's day. (Instead for our anniversary we made steak, potatoes, asparagus, and chocolate covered strawberries, and just had a night at home which turned out to be just as good as a fancy dinner out!) SO, I took Wednesday off (that's Zach's normal day off) and we finally had a fancy dinner date. Zach had what he describes as one of the best whiskey sours ever, a maple glazed 2-inch thick pork chop that was delicious and grilled asparagus. I had a New York strip steak and we shared a giant twice baked potato with like 4 different kinds of cheeses. We also had crab cakes for an appetizer, which yes, I actually ate and even more, I actually enjoyed. All in all it was a delicious meal, we had an awesome server, and we had a really good time.

Thursday we had to start the day early for some apartment hunting. Zach, Ben, and I went to look at a condo that our friends are renting out. Because the weather was soooo nice, Ben offered to drive in his convertible, which was very fun. Afterwards I had a doctors appointment, and some other stuff to do, and I really should have gone to work, but....I called in. =] It was definitely worth it. After my appointment, Zach and I went to the zoo. You could tell that the animals were enjoying the weather as much as we were. And we got there right around feeding time, so all of them were also very excited and active as they waited for their food. Afterwards, we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and went to the park next to the zoo and laid out a blanket and read for awhile. The rest of the night we spent relaxing!

Friday I babysat for Steph's little boy, Jake, who is absolutely adorable. I don't know how she spends every single day with him, and doesn't talk about him constantly, because I was only with him for 8 hours and all I wanted to do after was talk about all the ridiculous stuff he said and did. It was definitely enjoyable, and very entertaining, because that kid talks. And talks. And talks. 


Saturday we had to get up early to go out to Zach's family's land. They have a pretty good chunk of land, a large portion of which is a federal reserve wetland, which requires an annual (or semi-annual?) burn. So we went out to help keep all the flames and everything in order. It was very hot, but super fun. And there was beer! Zach and I both got a little sunburnt (mine is still a little red) because neither one of us thought about sunscreen. [I know my grandmothers will be upset reading about that.] By the time we got back though, we were exhausted. We got a bunch of food, and planned on settling in for the night, but we had some friends in town who ended up coming over so we made a party out of it. I made some pretty awesome beer bread (which Zach didn't get any of...oops!) and played games and had a pretty good time just catching up. Plus my mom and dad stopped in for a quick visit, so we had a full house!

It was definitely hard to go back to work yesterday...the more time off you have, the harder it is to go back. Plus, it was a such a productive 4-days and I know that during the work week I just don't get nearly as much done. But this week will be a super busy week at work, so I'm glad I got to get a good dose of relaxation in last week.

Alright, I've got to get going to work! Hope everyone else is enjoying the awesome weather!