Another update from yours truly.

Well there's two updates to give:

1. Atari has a secret admirer. Well, it's not really a secret considering he comes around to her window every day and pisses her off. And brings her very pretty yellow birds. (picture of said yellow bird - dead - below. You've been warned.)

2. Johnny now has a car. Mom, Dad, Josh, Jason, I think you'll recognize it... some serious deja vu, huh? :) No, we didn't steal the Honda. This one's an automatic. :P


So let's start with the car, since that happened yesterday. We have been looking on craigslist since we got here for a car that would do well out in the snow and get Johnny to and from work and school and the apartment. Johnny's coworkers said that a Honda Accord would do just fine, and when we happened upon this one yesterday, we made an appointment to see it. Where did we travel to, you ask? Denver! It was only a two hour and some odd minute drive, not too bad actually. We went to Chipotle (yum!), a fancy mall called Cherry Creek Shopping Center, where we were greeted by the mall's general manager, then to Target and finally we met the seller and the car. We drove it and talked to the seller a bunch before deciding to get it.

Here are some photos that Johnny took from the drive to Denver.




















And second, kitty's admirer. We knew our neighbors had a boy cat named Angus, who is super cute, friendly and fluffy, but he wasn't a problem until we got Atari her cat tree. Now that she can see out the window, Angus has been stopping by and attempting to woo her. Today I ran to Safeway to get Johnny some juice and whatnot (he's sick) and when I returned I saw Angus run around from the front window to the side of the house. Later, I was walking outside to take some pictures of the new car when I saw Angus scurrying from the side of the house to the front yard with a bright yellow bird in his mouth. I'm pretty sure he was on his way to present it to Atari, who was sitting in her cat tree at the window. ha, anyways, he dropped it by a bush and wanted pets from me, which really set Atari off. poor kitty. Here's the birdie. It's really pretty. I didn't get a photo of Angus, he ran away, maybe to find another bird?


So we've decided we should keep Angus away from stressing out our kitty, and we've been researching some cat repellent methods. One is to put orange rinds around the area you want to keep the cat away from. So the orange rinds are currently out in front of the window and we'll see what happens soon. If that doesn't work, there are some organic and safe cat repellents made of fox and coyote urine. Interesting concept that I hadn't heard of before.


So you want a tour of the apartment??

ah yes, the entryway to our beloved basement. The window on the ground is Atari's window.


you see our dining room when you first walk in


our new dining set and vinyl (woo! Target) tablecloth.


looking to the left of the previous picture you see a desk that came with the place (from a previous renter) and sort of our crafts/work area. I was thinking of hanging one of those long mirrors horizontally along this wall to reflect the light in through kitty's window. You can see our living room and the entrance to the kitchen too.


to the left of the previous picture you can see the front doorway


living room! (don't mind Johnny, he's got a cold and is feeling blah)


wooo living room. This is supposed to be a second bedroom but we thought it would be more comfy as a living room.


so from the first room/dining room you enter into the kitchen. You like the curtain-door thing I created at the end of the kitchen? yeah, totally my idea, thanks.


so once you enter into the kichen, to the right is the fridge. It was turned with its back against the wall with the window but we flipped it. I think it opens up more room for the microwave and toaster area


the main part of the kitchen. Now I know you're thinking, "nice countertops!" don't be jealous


the bathroom is directly across from the kitchen sink (kinda weird but whatever)


so at the end of the kitchen and through my amazing curtain-door is a weird little storage room. We keep our shoes in there. Beyond the storage room is the bedroom


so once you enter the weird little storage room and look left you see what we're using as a little pantry area. It works because it's right next to the kitchen


from the entryway to the little storage room and looking right is kitty's area (like my use of curtains again?)


and to the right of that is a dresser filled with sweaters and winter clothes


here are few more pictures of the car and our street. I think it'll be a good little car. Here are the features listed in the craigslist ad:
1995 Honda Accord LX
origial owner
no accidents
138,000 miles
new tires
new windshield
new battery
regular oil changes
non smoker
automatic transmission
air conditioning
cd player
power windows
power locks
snow tires included




well, those are the major updates! It's insured and we have to figure out the title stuff tomorrow (it sounds pretty difficult to get it titled in Washington from here - but do-able - so I think we are just going to title it in Wyoming and then again in WA next year. We'll see. BUT the exciting part is that we have to have the State Patrol dispatch an officer to us to come check it out. rad. :P )

-Jessica