Our fish

So here's our fish tank and stand. Isn't it pretty! The stand used to be a lot lighter, but with three coats of mahogany stain and a couple clear coats, voila we have one nice stand. The fish were being a bit camera shy. There are really about 40 fish in the tank. And the can of tuna on top, well that's another story :)

Quirks and funny little differences

Peter
*Yes, he still has his string. It goes everywhere with him. It started as one piece of yarn, now it's a whole wad, you know in case he loses one. He used to throw it in a nylon sock and wash to get the kinks in them. Now he irons the kinks in.
*Could care less if his clothes are wrinkly or not.
*Has learned not to ever wake Mandy up again in the middle of the night by tickling to ask for the blankets back. Now he just grabs hold and pulls.
*Super light sleeper, the sound of the ceiling fan keeps him up.
*Breaks out into random songs. Is quite good at making up his own song based on whatever we're talking about.
*Can be totally cheap, or splurge on stuff...Would rather buy two model airplanes ($60 each) to get free shipping, than buy one airplane and pay $10 for shipping.
*Grocery shopping-doesn't need a list, will always come back with meat on sale. Two bags full of apples on sale is common too...they were only 49 cents a pound (yes we did eat all the apples.)
*Clothing shopping-Do I have to?
*Shoes-Own about 5 pairs, don't wear about 2.
*Wakes up at 7:30 on the dot no matter the day.
*Is frustrated when it's his hair that's found on the pillow.
*Will easily spend $2000 on a big HD Widescreen LCD Sony Bravia TV, but will switch cable companies to save $10 a month.
*Collects ferraris, airplanes, castles and video games. Looks at each often. Likes to own a complete video game series, though some are still in the plastic.
*Loves Costco on Saturdays-Free samples.
*PC person
*Loves watching movie trailers on the internet.
*Loves action/adventure movies.

Mandy
*Irons clothes, even jeans and t-shirts.
*Conveniently takes up the entire bed when Peter has gotten up. Even if it is just to use the bathroom, Peter comes back and often has to sleep on the other side of the bed.
*Has tendency to sleep with legs up, and then roll over, pulling all the covers off Peter.
*Likes having the ceiling fan, AC, and/or a smaller fan on all night long during the hot months.
*Can easily sleep without blankets on hot nights. Or sleep with feet out of cover.
*Grocery shopping-Buy what we need and get it done quickly. This is not an all day event.
*Clothes shopping-Want it, Love it, Bought it.
*Shoes-Own about 23 pairs, 5 rarely get used.
*Don't even think about waking me up early on the weekend.
*Likes taking naps.
*Doesn't worry about losing hair.
*Loves Winnie the Pooh-TV-Got it! Waffle iron-Got it! Shoes-Got it! Jewelry and Jewelry box-Got it! Lawn ornaments-Have three! Salt and Pepper shakers-Wedding gift from best friend...get the picture? :)
*Loves bears-scroll down to a previous post to see picture, then add three more bears to the collection.
*Hates Costco on Saturdays-It's impossible to get through with people blocking the aisles trying to get samples.
*Loves chick flicks.
*Mac person

Though it looks like we have many differences, we do, and we love our little quirks and differences. A few but not all the things we have in common:
*We love gardening!
*We love playing Guitar Hero (we have all four editions so far and don't plan on getting the Aerosmith one, but eagerly await Guitar Hero 4), and Burnout (Mandy's getting really good.)
*We like Disney movies and playing Disney Scene It-Peter would win if he didn't always roll low numbers.
*We like to travel. Mandy prefers airplanes, Peter likes car trips, but nonetheless we like traveling.
*We love pets. Mandy likes dogs best, Peter likes anything with four legs and furry.
*We love watching movies together.
*We love swimming. Peter takes awhile to get used to the water, while Mandy usually just jumps in and gets used to the water real fast.
*We like museums
*We hate doing the laundry, more importantly we hate putting the laundry away, but we grin and bear it and get the job done.
*We like going on fun day trips, amusement parks, Seaworld, etc.
*We like hanging out with friends.
*We love being with each other.

Free Car Wash

We went to a wedding reception tonight. On our way home, as we're leaving the parking lot, Peter slams on the brakes, puts the car in reverse and then very very slowly drives through a sprinkler that was spraying all over the street. He figured if he drove slowly enough the whole car would get washed. He even had the windshield wipers going. It was pretty funny.

Peter's side of the story

It's time for me to defend my honor. That spider was really big, it was arguably not a bug, it was wildlife! When it's on you it seems even bigger. There are lots of people given the same circumstances who would've done an even grander spider dance. That is all.

Spider Dance

Yesterday Peter and I were at my parents' house looking at pieces of slate for our aquarium. Peter ditched me at one point to go check out his gladiolus bulbs in the pool area and walked into a spider web with a spider that was "this big" in it. I was on the other side of the house when I heard a lot of commotion. I turned the corner and saw Peter whacking himself with a box and doing the funniest dance I've seen in a long time. My mom was beside herself with laughter. Apparently I missed the part where he was running around the lawn hoping that the wind would blow the spider off him. He claims he was looking for a place that the dog hadn't pooped so he could roll on the ground. (My mom poop scoops all the time, there was no poop out there to be found.) He claims it's still pooped grass even if it has already been cleaned up. So anyway I see him whacking himself with a box. Then he comes running toward me with box in hand and tells me to whack the spider. I heard "spider" and backed away. You kidding me I didn't want him anywhere near me, after all the spider was "this big."

Then several hours later when we were back at home sitting on the couch he kept on grabbing at his hair. Every time he flinched I flinched too and then I started laughing. He was not finding it as funny as I was. :)

New Pets coming soon!

Since our last pet...my rat Smokey died about a month ago we have thought that we need another pet around the house. We need something that lasts awhile, but when it dies you don't feel bad. So we decided on fish. Now my brother just so happens to be totally into fish. He has a 210 gallon salt water tank in my parents' garage. My dad is also into fish. He usually goes and sits all weekend in water waiting for some to bite his bait, but he also has a 60 gallon fresh water tank in his office as well as a much smaller salt water tank.

Now my totally cool and wonderful brother has been selling his saltwater stuff and some of his freshwater stuff too. He has an extra 40 gallon tank and stand that I've been eyeing the last couple of weeks. I had asked my mom about possibly staining the stand a darker color and she said she had the equipment to do it, if my brother sold me the stand and tank. A couple days ago I asked my brother if he was selling the tank and stand and he said he was. I asked him if I could buy it and he said I could have it for free. He also went through his stuff and found some freshwater sand, a filter and a few other things that I could have. When I lived there I had a 10 gallon freshwater tank in my bathroom. It had the coolest things in it and we couldn't find the rocks that I had, but nobody remembers throwing them away, so perhaps we'll find them.

So anyways we're getting fishies! Petco has a great sale on fish until June 22nd, so sometime before then we'll have it all set up and ready. I'm excited! We'll post pictures when it is all set up and ready.

Brazilian BBQ

Saturday we had a Brazilian BBQ with our neighbors and our home teachers. It was very fun. I had the best piece of pork I have ever eaten in my entire life. We took it right off the grill. They sliced it on the board. I picked it up from the board and it was so juicy I had juice running down my fingers. I always thought pork had to be boring and dry, but this stuff was fantastic! We also had a ton of beef, roasted glazed pineapple, beans, rice and chicken. Mandy liked the chicken best. We had watermelon too. For drink we had limeade and strawberry limeade. Our neighbors are from Brazil and our home teacher served there on his mission so they were pros. They even brought roasting sticks like they do in the restaurants. The one thing I learned about pork is that you need a thick piece otherwise it will be dry. It was so fine!

Pool Garden

Behind the pool we have started an extension to my garden. Peter planted gladiolus bulbs and I planted cantaloupe, honeydew, zucchini, butternut squash and bell peppers. We can hardly wait for everything to be in bloom.

To those who don't know. This is at Mandy's parents' house.

Water Fun!

Here's flying Gracie! We spent Saturday afternoon playing in the garden and throwing toys in the pool for Gracie to retrieve.