Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The Food Co-op

From time to time I've read about communities that have a food co-op. I've often wondered if Salt Lake would be fortunate enough to have a food co-op. We have a killer Farmers Market but I hadn't ever heard of any food co-ops.

Fortunately I saw a news story on rising food prices about a month ago that highlighted a local food co-op. The Community Food Co-op of Utah is a non-profit committed to bringing members of the community food at reasonable prices. You place an order once a month to get monthly deliveries. Yes it isn't necessarily enough food to cover all we'll need for a month but it's a good start and will definitely save us some coin. We get our first delivery this Saturday so I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Adam Just Freaked Out

So it's Sunday night about 12:30 am and Adam is asleep on our couch. They came over so Jessica and Lisa could have a sewing party (things are getting crazy at the Miller household).

Adam fell asleep and his neck was cricked. He woke up, realized his neck hurt, and growled in a way that almost sounded like a sick bear. It was a good time so now I am blogging about it.

Okay so he didn't quite freak out but it was pretty close. We all had a good laugh.

"Ow, my neck hurts..."

Friday, May 16, 2008

Good Friday Night

Tonight was awesome. It started with leaving work early and a great bike ride home. Jessica and Penelope were outside waiting for me, which is always great. Then I got to spend to some time just me and Penelope while Jessica loaded a couple of new hats to her website.

We decided to go out and get some fish tacos from Rubios, who, by the way, make the best fish tacos. Since we were in Sugarhouse we decided to walk around a bit.

First we were going to go to the library and pick up some books for Penelope but it was closed. What, a public library open later than 6 on a Friday? What was I thinking? Instead we walked over to Barnes & Noble for a few minutes.

While in B&N I was checking out the latest issue of Home Power. There was a really good article on potable rainwater collection systems. Yeah I don't have a house, but I love reading about stuff like that anyway.

Then we made a quick walk around to Downeast Outfitters and then over to Old Navy to get Penelope a new hoody. Yeah I'm not a super big fan about walking around shopping, but the weather today and this evening was so nice it was great to be walking around.

We finished the night off visiting Whole Foods to get some killer Stonyfield Farms Creme Caramel Ice Cream. We also picked up a few cookies from the bakery. While we were at the checkstand we saw these killer bags:





They are 80% made out of recycled soda bottles and pretty well made. I asked the cashier how much they were (out of curiosity) thinking that it's Whole Foods so they've got to be at least $5. Nope, only $.99! So we picked one up. They feel really similar to the lunch tote I made Jessica a few months ago out of used plastic grocery bags. The best part is they have a killer warranty. "If at anytime the bag wears out from normal use, bring it into a Whole Foods store and we'll replace it for free.". That's a pretty good warranty on a reusable grocery bag.

We came home, gave Penelope a bath (which she was extra cute during, we got some awesome video one of us might post), played a bit, and then put her to bed. Once she was in bed we indulged ourselves to the cookies and ice cream we bought while we watched the Office from last night (which was absolutely hilarious!). We also had this wicked good drink Jess made with ginger ale and a syrup made with sugar, lemon juice, mint, and rosemary. Very refreshing!

It's been a long time since we've had a night like this and it was a great change!

Oh yeah, happy end of bike to work day.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Bike Trailer, Finally!

We finally got a bike trailer! After about two years of wanting one we picked one up. We got it from my mom's sister-in-law (true story). It's a Burley d'lite that is about 3 years old. The two best parts are it was only used a couple of times and has been hanging in their garage ever since and we picked it up for only a hundred clams!

Here's the full rig.


We took it for a couple of small test rides yesterday, once around the neighborhood and once to the park. Tonight was the real test. Penelope and I went to the store to do our grocery shopping for the week. It went extremely well. I will admit that in my excitement to finally ride to the store and take Penelope with I left my wallet home and Jessica had to bring it to me (rookie mistake).

Happy after the ride.


Using the trailer for groceries was awesome! I fit almost the full load into the small storage space in the back of the trailer. I had to put one bag in the trusty milk crate.

The evidence.


The bike is currently my single-speed commuter. I do have plans for turning it into a utility bike (very soon). The extra gears will be especially helpful on the uphills. Once I have the bike converted over to be utility bike I'll post new pictures and a description of what I've done.

After we got home and ate dinner Penelope decided she wanted to play with my bike helmet. To that I say "what better toy then a bike helmet!".

Cheesing it up for the camera.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

My Redneck Saturday

Today was great. Jessica had a class to go to at 8:00 this morning (don't know when the last time was she needed an alarm to get up) so I got to spend the morning with Penelope, it was great. We hung out and cleaned the house. She likes to help me vacuum. :)

Then we went to a diaper party for a couple in our ward who are having a baby in about two weeks, that was also a good time.

Then we went to Cache Valley to visit my mom for Mother's Day. This is where the redneck shenanigans begin. My mom has picked up some new hobbies since she got married this past December. About a month or two ago when I was talking to her on the phone she said "guess what? I got a BB gun". Then about two weeks ago when I was talking to her she said "you'll have to come check out my new 20 gauge shotgun". That's right folks, my mom is the proud owner of a 20 gauge shotgun. You might be saying to yourself "Eric, there's plenty of people who own shotguns that aren't rednecks". But then I say to you "she sits on the front porch of their house, which is on a small farm, to shoot it."



There's the evidence of the shenanigans. I've got the shotgun, my mom (to the left) has the BB gun. I took a few shots at some buckets that were hanging on the fence across the driveway. It was the first time I shot gun in probably 13 or 14 years. It was a good time. Now I'm set for another 13-14 years before I need to shoot a gun again.

Friday, May 02, 2008

New Blog: Cellphone Fstop

My friend Adam started a blog that he named Cellphone Fstop. The blog is exclusively pictures that are taken with cell phone cameras. A while ago he asked me to contribute to the Cellphone Fstop blog. Please check it out. We have an eclectic collection of pictures that range from the strange to the funny to whatever strikes our fancy at the time. We add a few new pictures every week. Check it out and check back often. You'll be able to find the link in the "blogs I contribute to" section off to the side.