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Another Black Friday has come and gone, and we have some stories to tell. The in-person Black Friday shopping was disappointing, but we got some sweet deals online (I’ll talk about those at the end of this post). We wanted to buy some things from Wal*Mart, but apparently so did everybody else. The freeway was completely backed up from everybody wanting to go Wal*Mart. We were stuck in traffic for almost two hours. By the time we finally got off the freeway, we decided to just skip it. We were already an hour late for the store opening, there wasn’t a single parking space in sight, and we didn’t want to interfere with the rest of our Black Friday plan.

Our next stop was Best Buy. There must have been at least 1500 people in line. We were half an hour early and the line wrapped halfway around the building, through the parking lot, and all the way to the back of the Home Depot nearby. Again, we decided to ditch this plan and go on to our next store.

We went to Target where the line wrapped completely around the building and ended just about where the entrance was. We decided to stick this one out. Angela got a $15 leather jacket, some holiday tees, and cheap DVDs **cough**New Moon**cough**. I didn’t want to be left out so I got some washcloths.

At Kohl’s, we used a 15% off everything coupon to get a thermometer already at 50% off, slippers at almost 70% off, and some more clothes. We finished up at 1am and then headed over to Sears. Since Sears didn’t open until 4am, we took a quick nap. Wow, did it get cold! We were prepared with hand warmers, beanies, blankets, and gloves, but we were still freezing. I guess we’re getting weak in our old age.

When Sears finally opened, we got a free Christmas ornament, a jacket for $29 that normally sells for $150, and a snow man tie to go with my red pants!

At Sports Authority, we got $20 of free gift cards. I got a new jacket and Angela got some snow pants for when we learn to snowboard this winter.

At Michael’s we got free Godiva chocolate bars, 70% off ribbon, plus we had a 25% off stackable coupon. At Joann we got a bunch of yarn.

Half Price Books gives out free $5 gift cards every year. We used a gift card from last year, our gift cards from this year, and a 40% off coupon to get a book for only $3 that retails new for $50.

The stores’ opening on Thanksgiving day really hosed us! It was way overcrowded and all the stores opened at the same times. Hopefully they don’t do that next year.

Our pre Black Friday and online deals on the other hand were great! Angela got a new laptop for $270 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for $4. We got a $200 xbox+Kinect, a $100 router for $50, and a Sony Blu-ray player with Google TV for $100 (normally $200). Also, I just ordered Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for our xbox for $7.

Another surplus sale! Lake Washington School District had a surplus sale, so naturally we had to go. We woke up at 6am and stood in the cold for an hour, but it was worth it! We ended up getting a fairly new projector for $25, a big box of tessellation tiles and blocks for $5, and a long reach stapler for $1.

It was raining dogs and cats today so I guess that means one thing: Summer is officially over and our Northwest Autumn weather has returned .  We had a pretty eventful summer this year!  Main highlights:

1) We took a big Chau family vacation to Florida

2) Jon got his hands on a $99 HP Touchpad

3) We bought a condo and moved in

Our Florida vacation was heaps of sweltering fun.  I think we were able to see 90% of what there is to see in Florida in 10 days.  First, we flew into Tampa and drove to Sanibel Island (a family favorite) where we spent Jon’s birthday.  We mostly enjoyed the beach and collected a bunch of shells there.  Next stop was the Everglades where we made a quick stop to take a boat tour that featured a bunch of wild dolphins swimming along side the boat and a mosquito infested alligator swamp.  Then on the  way to Orlando we made a mini detour to Ft. Lauderdale to check out the university where my dad is getting his PhD.  Of course, once we got to Orlando we got our Disney time in.  We ended up spending 3 days in the parks.  It was my niece’s first time going so that was especially fun.  Our main objective during the trip was to see the Juno rocket launch from the Kennedy Space Center.  Luckily enough the launch was only delayed by an hour so we got our chance to see the rocket as it started it’s journey to Jupiter!  Our last travelling day wrapped up at Sea World which oddly enough turned out to be my favorite.  I’ve always had a special place in my heart for Shamu.

I don’t really have any comments about Jon’s TouchPad purchase, but I’m sure he’d be willing to write a special post raving about it if anyone’s interested

The move was the highlight of the summer for me.  After all of the house hunting, packing, moving, cleaning and unpacking I’m definitely glad things are winding down and have decided I never want to buy another piece of furniture again.  I was reminded what a blessing it is to have great friends and family.  We moved from the third floor to another taller third floor place and we had a lot of stuff.  There’s no way we could have done it ourselves and lots of people spent the majority of their Saturday helping us with the back breaking work.  A big thanks to all of those who came to help out!  Also, a special thanks to my Mom and Dad who took a couple of days off work to come to Seattle to help unpack, assemble, purchase, install, cook great food and clean!  Mom and Dad came and we got a lot done, but also had a fun visit.

Well now that we’re mostly settled in our new habitat and most of the boxes are cleared away it’s time for the fun times to begin.  Hope you all had a great summer and are doing well!

Well, once again we’re guilty of not updating the blog .  We have been busy little bees though.  In April we spent the entire month training for a 5K race that was sponsored by Microsoft.  At first, I think we were just doing it because it was free, but then we got really into it.  We were really pumped!  I emailed the coordinators and got the race route map and we ran the course everyday after work, rain or shine.  We even tracked our times on a little white board.  The first day that we tried it it took us (it was admittedly me slowing us down with constant whining) 5o whole minutes, which is kind of embarrassing, but by race day we were pretty sure we could do it in under 38 minutes.  Not Olympic quality, but an improvement worth being proud of.  A few days before race day I found out that I hadn’t signed up for the race properly and was pretty despondent, but Jon, being a vigilant hubby took the time to find the phone number of the coordinators and made sure that we would be able to run the race!  Hurray for hubby!  We woke up bright and early on race day, they had different waiting areas based on estimated time for the participants.  I was pretty sure we couldn’t run it any faster than our best speed, but Jon pushed for us to wait in the 35 minutes and under category.  The race itself was great!  Jon didn’t want to run ahead of me, but I definitely think my pace was holding him back.  About 3K into the race, Jon got a phone call on his cell phone and he actually took it and was talking as I ran along side him wheezing along.  He was just calm and natural, I don’t think the other person even realized he was running a race!  In the end, we both beat our best time.  Jon finished in 35 minutes and I finished in 36.  Even though we weren’t close to winning the race (the fastest person did it in 17 minutes) I’d have to say that felt like one of the biggest accomplishments I’ve ever had.  There’s nothing better than the feeling of working towards something really unpleasant then doing better than you thought you possibly could!

Besides the big race, we’ve been busy doing odds and ends.  I got a big haircut that I’m loving, we had a visit from our brother in-law from Baltimore and over Memorial Day weekend we took a road trip down to visit Jon’s family in Boise.  The summer is just starting up and we had our first day over 70 degrees since last August this weekend.  We’re definitely getting warmed up for lots of summer fun!~

I think I’ve found my new calling in life. VELODROME RACING! We had a beautiful spring day yesterday and Jon and I made use of the not often seen sun. We set out on a bike ride without a set destination and ended up biking down some unknown trails. About an hour and a half into it we decided we’d head over the Marymoor Park then head home. That’s when we discovered the velodrome! It’s a bike racing course that has sloped ends just like a car race track. It was soooo fun. I ended up biking in circles for an hour. When we first got there we were both pretty shakey because the slope was really steep. Jon had to stop to take a call, but I kept at it and eventually managed to make some laps on the sloped portion of the track and as I passed Jon I said “”Hubby look at me! I’m going to be a velodrome racer!!!”. I’ll definately be advocating for another visit as soon as the weather is good enough again!

Jon and I went on our honeymoon to Southern California.  We went to all of the big theme parks including California Adventures where I found my favorite ride, which no longer exists :’(, the Orange Stinger.  Who could resist swinging around in a gigantic Orange?  Who cares if all of the other riders are 10 years old or younger?  Thinking about that huge orange always brings back good memories, so for FHE this week Jon and I decided to construct our own replica using the K’nex set Jon got me for my birthday a while back.  It turned out pretty well, the swings rotate and all.  We even made a loading dock and ice cream stand just like the real thing.

Spinning Orange (click for video)

It’s that time of the year again–deal time!! We decided to do a warm-up run before Black Friday just to brush up on our skills. Then we did our infamous Black Friday series; and we even added some more deals that we don’t normally do: food! We actually didn’t have anything we really wanted to get on Black Friday, so our main motivation was to maintain our reputation and to entertain our blog readers. Or because we’re crazy.

Target Warm up
We went to Target a few days before Thanksgiving, just to scope out the store’s floorplan and to get some early buys. We ended up getting four pairs of jeans for $9 (50% off), 12 packages of various sorts of candy for about $1 each, and 20 pairs of socks for $18!!!

First Black Friday stop: Walmart
Walmart lets you enter the store early (but you can only make your purchases after midnight), so it wasn’t too insane. I went straight for the end of the line, which happened to be in the nethermost corner of the store. Meanwhile Angela went to scavenge a boatload of DVDs (including the Bourne series, the Lord of the Rings series, I am Legend, and others) for $2 each, a $50 sewing machine (50% off), and a $20 safe (60% off). They were all out of carts so we had to carry all of our loot. We waited in line to check out for about an hour and a half. But it was okay, because there was plenty of Justin Bieber paraphernalia all over to keep us occupied.

Waiting in the rain for an hour at Kohl’s
We were rained on for most of the 1.5 hours we waited in front of Kohl’s. But at least we were fifth in line! We got a slow cooker and a wallet and we were the very first people to check out.

Maneuvering through the swarms at Target
As expected, there were swarms of people buzzing throughout Target. I think Target was the least organized store of the day. There was a line to check out, but no employees or even signs to indicate which side was the entrance. As a result, tons of people were unknowingly (and some knowingly) cutting in line (we almost did too, until we realized that there was a line). After checking out, the exit doors were locked. When we asked an employee, she said it wasn’t an exit; so we had to walk across the store to go to the other doors. As we passed by the original doors, we noticed that they had opened them and were then allowing people to exit.

Surprise deal at Sports Authority
I wanted a $10 exercise ball at Sports Authority. Since we didn’t anticipate exercise balls being a hot item, we planned on taking a nap in the parking lot. When we got there, we noticed an unexpectedly long line to get in. So we did what any normal person would do: forget about sleeping and get in the line before it got any longer! After we got in line, we found out that the first 85 people would get gift cards for $10-500 (randomly distributed). What a sweet deal! Free money! Angela and I both got the $10 cards. So I essentially got my exercise ball for free, and Angela got a swimming suit that ended up being a total of 58% off.

Boogles of ribbon at Michael’s
I was too afraid of the crazy crafters to even go in to Michael’s, so Angela braved it alone against the 6 other people who were in line at opening. It’s okay because I had to defend our loot against the ferocious mice who wanted our movies. We got a bunch of ribbon at 78% off.

A casual stroll at Old Navy
Since we went to Old Navy hours after they opened, it was pretty empty. We bought jeans, pajama pants, and camis for 50-80% off. Piece of cake.

Quick freebie at Half Price Books
As we do every year, we line up at Half Price Books and they gave us each a $5 gift card. We didn’t bother to look at the books since we can use the gift cards another day, and we have much more important things to do!

Winding down at Jo-Ann
By 7am, everything was starting to die down. We went to Jo-Ann to get a spatula at 50% off and a gingerbread house making kit.

After Jo-Ann, we were pretty tired and were done for the day. We headed home and went straight to sleep. When we woke up, I noticed people were posting on Facebook about their shopping. WHAT!?!? People are still out there!? We had to get in some more deals, so we decided to do food.

Finishing off the day with Baja Fresh and Slurpees
We got a buy one, get one free deal at Baja Fresh. Woohoo! I love burritos! $7 for two big burritos and all the chips and salsa we could want. Then we headed over to 7-11 to get free Slurpees.

A few weeks ago Jon’s cousin was in town visiting us.  We had a lot of fun seeing the sites of Seattle with her!  Friday morning, we had a big homemade breakfast then, headed to Seattle to RIDE THE DUCKS!  It was a lot more fun than we thought it’d be and was a great way to see the major attractions.  Our tourguide was great, I felt like we were in a Disneyland parade or something because the music was blaring and we were waving and everyone on the street was waving back.  On the tour we got to see Pike’s Place, Pioneer Square, Fremont, Gasworks Park and a bunch of other sites on land and sea.  After the tour we headed to Pike’s Place and after some running around found Pike’s Place Chowder.  Their Seafood Bisque was amazing, totally worth the wait!!!  We also saw the gum wall which we’d never seen before (disgusting!!!).  After wandering the market for a bit we headed to the Seattle Aquarium.  We got a chance to feed some sea urchins, which was a lot of fun.  The highlight of the day was going on an Argosy Cruise to Tillicum Village on Blake Island.  I saw mixed reviews for the cruise online, but I have no idea what the bad reviewers were talking about, it was awesome!!!  The boat ride there was about 40 minutes and they gave the history of the Native American tribes from the area and how they helped the settlers that first came to Seattle.  Once we got to Blake Island the dancers performed a welcoming dance while we ate these yummy clams in a garlic broth.  The best thing was once we were done with the clams we got to throw the shells down on the ground and smash them.  The whole path leading up to the long house was crushed clam shells, how cute!  Once we got into the long house we got to see how Native Americans cooked salmon around a fire, we got to explore a little too.  Then the big event SALMON BUFFET!  All of the food was great actually, but the salmon was the best I’ve ever eaten.  After dinner there was a really nice dance show which told some Native American stories.  The stage was really elaborate , the costumes were great, and the production was just really well put together.  After the show was over we got a chance to roam the beach and explore the island a bit too.  The sunset was gorgeous!  The best thing about the whole thing was that we got the whole thing half off because of our Prime Card!!!!! 

Saturday we wrapped up the weekend.  First we had dim sum in the International District, then we lined up to tour a stealth ship that was harbored in Seattle for Seafair.  The ship was very impressive and the service men and women on the ship were very helpful and friendly.  The ship is called the Greenbay.  Towards the end of the tour they had an abulence and tank that you could get in and see the inside of.  They also had demos of how to use a missle launcher and a machine gun.  I was too scared to hold either, but Jon was more than willing to volunteer.  It was a fun outing and really interesting.  We also got to tour a Canadian mine sweeper boat which was smaller, but still pretty neat to see.

 

It was my birthday last week. I’m 26 and I’m really feeling the effects. Despite my quickly aging body, we were able to go out and do some fun stuff.

REI had a “garage sale” with tons of heavily discounted items. We got there half an hour early and there was already a huge line. Once they started letting people in, it was a mad house! Unfortunately since it was our first time, we weren’t able to find anything worth grabbing. But then people started throwing back the stuff they had grabbed but didn’t want. That’s when we raked in our kill! Yea yea, call us vultures–you’ll be laughing until you see the deals we got!

This is what we got (in no particular order): inflatable sleeping pad, two pairs of ski gloves, a pair of hiking boots, a pair of Nike shoes, a pair of sandal-shoes, and a pair of baby sandal-shoes. Let me give you an idea of the greatness of these deals. The particular line of gloves we got sells for $160. Ours were in perfect condition and only cost $34! And the boots? They normally sell for $185. The pair we got look like they’ve been used once and we paid $20 for them. What great deals! Watch out for my listings on eBay!

For dinner, Angela made a meatloaf cake. It tasted so good!

That evening, we had a bunch of friends over from our ward and it was a really good time. We had ice cream cake that said “Happy Birthday Princess” and I got to wear a pipe-cleaner tiara. Woot!

Well, a couple of weeks ago Jon and I thought we’d step up our exercise game and get bikes so that we could save on gas $ and get a little bit of a work out at the same time.  I know from the pictures they look pretty cool, by my bike was only $60 at Fred Meyer.  Jon’s is a little higher end, but’s nothing Mr. Armstrong would be drolling over in envy.  The first day that Jon and I went out biking was mildly traumatic, it was pouring rain and I hadn’t ridden a bike for at least 5 years.  By the time we were on our way home I had a seriously bruised bottom and told Jon that I refused to ride anymore until we got a better seat for my bike.  The next morning Jon bought me the most fabulous bike seat in the world!  It’s like riding on a cloud!  So now that we’ve got hot new wheels we’re riding them pretty much every where.  *ding ding*