Here Fishy Fishy Fish

As a kid my Dad practiced the wise decision to take his kids fishing. Sometimes we went quite frequently. My uncles and cousins would be part of the trip sometimes. Other times we would go with some of our neighbors.

To all of you who helped me worm a hook, cast my line, fasten my life jacket, and taught me to clean a fish, Thank You.

I admit I have become a fishing fanatic this season and it may seem like it came out of no where but I think its been a long time coming. I was given my own fishing pole and tackle box as a kid, before I even needed a fishing liscence. I really didn't know what to do with them at the time. In fact I can still remember a few bike trips up Provo Canyon ending without even a bite.

Another fond memory of fishing was when I caught a 22 inch rainbow trout trolling strawberry reservoir. That was when I learned that he who catches the biggest fish by decree must be thrown in the drink. because it was my first offense I was given a warning.

This year with a little nudge from friends and who knows what else, I have become some what... Shall we say "obsessed."  It may have been from watching "River Monsters" seasons  one through three. What really surprised me was that there are more fish to find than just trout. I have caught more than five types of fish this season that I didn't know were so close to home.

But as winter sets in some of these fish I've been going for are going to sleep. I think my fishing holes may be limited to Hyrum dam, Cutler reservoir, and Mantua. Anyone have any good tips for winter fishing/ice fishing for these places?

Jake, hook line and sinker

Best Birthday EVER

I was suspicious the entire week leading to my birthday but I had no idea how amazing of a surprise party Kylee had planned for me.

The day started off perfect. Being able to sleep in and take our time getting ready. I even felt good vacuuming and doing the dishes on my birthday. All I really wanted to do today was fish and I did that up at second dam(where you can see the fish but nobody can get them to bite). I opened presents there and she had given me the most thoughtful gifts(light-up frisbee, a mad gab card game, and underwear). Pizza Pie Cafe was a fun choice for dinner at the time but after hitting the bathroom for the next three hours I won't make that mistake again.

As I walked up to the front door and set all of the fishing gear down everything seemed normal. I went to unlock the door, and for some reason the front porch light turned on. I looked back at Kylee with a questioning look. and as I opened the door all the lights went on and everyone yelled "Surprise!"

Apparently Kylee had planned an entire friend party without me knowing. She invited people from my work, people from school, and many other friends. The apartment was completely decorated in StarWars theme, even all of the treats went with the theme.

Then to top off the perfect party, Kylee pulled out some glow in the dark wrist bands and we played a night game of light up Ultimate Frisbee.

I have the Most amazing wife EVER!,jake

Sweet Summer Days

Believe it or not Kylee and I have already harvested the first fruits of our labor in the garden. We plucked a radish today that was the size of a golf ball and not even the least bit hot. I know that growing a radish that big isn't a huge deal but this one was not even close to being "woody."  The knife just slide right through it when we cut it up to eat it today.

The garden is coming along very well and that is great for now. But here's the dilema: We are getting very close to knowing whether or not we can get a house soon. By next week we should know if we can or cannot get the house we currnetly have our eyes on. To make matters even more difficult, rent is going up in July another $15 a month. I don't want to lose all this hard work we put in. On the other hand I am not ready to lose more money to rent when we could be paying the same in mortgage and maybe even less.

Sad to say I will not be planting Eggplant and Zucchini. Our neighbors and friends will be planting these and since neither is really fit for consumption unless deep fat fried. I'm sure I will eat some by the end of the season.

Jake, maybe leaving "this old Apartment"

Little April Showers

Gardening has taken a back seat for the last few weeks as school draws to a close. Luckily April comes with it's own watering system and every other day is marked with low grey clouds and lots of rain.

plant update: onions, peas, and radishes are all up and growing( I re-seeded the radish and lettuce to get a thicker row). the lettuce really didn't come up except in the walk way where I spilled a few. I also re-started the Tomatoes after the first batch dampened off.

As most of you may have guessed Kylee and I are looking into homes in our area(walkable distance to campus). We went on our first home tour of a house well within our price range only to determine that the house should be burned to the ground and reconstructed. We've been heavily weighing the pros and cons of owning a home and its been a struggle to know what to do. With school getting out soon we may have more time to go looking, but we are going to have to acquire credit first to show the banks we are a good risk.

With all of the research into homes and payments, I recently spent time creating an Excel spreadsheet to see how much we are earning and spending throughout the year. So far we are breaking even but I'm sure when we are going to come out on top as soon as summer starts. Its our goal to own a home and use it to get our dream home before its time to retire.

Jake, just so you know

instant garden, just add water

I know it s been quite a few weeks but we finally made our garden more than just talk. Over spring break Kylee and I were outside working on the new beds while the weather was warm(and inside working on new spring decor).

I'm surprised how well the wooden retaining walls held up better than I expected and we found plenty of cinder blocks around the apartment building to fill in gaps and steps. We would not have finish the whole project before school started if Kevin and Melanie, our neighbors, hadn't helped us. So now we have three times the space we had last year and it only cost $20.

so far we have planted lettuce, radishes, peas, and onions. more planting to follow, pending on the weather. I've planned out a layout for the entire garden square foot by square foot, but we will see just how closely that is followed. Gardening is a science, but it is also an art.

Jake, This Old Apartment season 1

a narration of a moment

I am currently sitting in the public library using the internet, listening to an elderly woman mutter to herself how her husband better not forget to pick her up.

I would not be here if the internet at our apartment hadn't died. The manager said it should have been up today, but no luck there. so here I sit at the library doing online school work (and blogging). From my homework I've decided that Business and numbers don't get along very well.

This lady has been nervously pacing from the chair next to me to the courtesy phone and calling her husband every 5 minutes. It started snowing again and I'm guessing from her overly vocal mutterings that she REALLY doesn't want to be stranded here. I don't blame her but i usually rant like that INSIDE my head.

Oh wow, She just told the librarians that she is going to brave the weather and leave without her husband. either she doesn't trust her spouse at all or she is an overly anxious person. Good Luck random rambling lady!

jake, life is story

Ruminating about Rent

I had the greatest idea the other day to figure out a way to turn the weed lot next to our apartment into a green lawn to pic1nic on this summer. I found a cheap lawn mower on KSL.com and calculated just how much it would cost to do.

Sadly it turns out the manager and the owner had different plans. I was graciously informed that we are free to weed and mow the space as much as we'd like, but not to water it. I guess it has something to do with the cost of water. I was also informed that I should not plan on using a drip hose for our garden bed this year. Bummer.

It's moments like this that get me all excited about owning a home. Having our own space, with our own walls, and our own parking spot. Oh, and our own big mortgage payment. I think that's the only thing keeping us stationary. At least I have the best kind of room mate.

Jake, the grass is greener I'm sure!

'Tis the season

Getting ready for spring in the middle of winter is like counting down christmas in the middle of October. I know it's coming but it's taking it's own sweet tome to get here. Working at a garden store isn't helping me either. As soon as customers start showing up to get the seeds for this years garden my brain starts scheming about how all the things I want to plant this year.

I don't know if I can wait for the ground to thaw before I start breaking ground in our little growing patch. The dirt seems to be calling my name and begging me to get my hands and knees all muddy.

Just to see who all reads this post, I want some suggestions on what to plant this year. If you read this post you MUST write a comment and give atleast one suggestion. two or three would be great too. Ill keep a detailed acount of all i plant and you can see how your suggestions turn out!

A man's shopping trip

Last night I was killing time while waiting to pick Kylee Up from work. I went in to a few stores that she doesn't appreciate as much as I do though I'm not sure why. Best buy was my first stop but it was a forgetable experience. I mostly just wanted to dream about having a man cave. After that I skipped over to O'Reilly Auto (formally Checkers) to see if they had a part I need for the car. As I walked in to the store I was greeted by Thomas, a guy about my age, who talked to me not as a customer but like we'd been friends for quite a while. we talked about the part for a bit but when he couldn't find it in his database he did something I didn't expect. He picked up the phone and asked AutoZone down the street if they had it. Wow! Turns out the tailgate assembly for an Isuzu is a very rare thing. Now here is where any other sales person would say,"anything else I can get for you?" Trust me its almost programmed into them. But Thomas just kept making small talk about my car and how I like it. He even casually suggested I get some WD-40 to try and loosen the Tailgate latch. It wasn't a pressured sale. I even felt like I had wanted to do that all along. I left the store with my can of lubricant and a good feeling that I seldom get when I go shopping. Way to go Thomas for making shopping feel more like going to see a friend instead of an in and out service.

Jake, sure I'll buy another one!

Requiem for a Light

Lately I've been in one of those learning moods. No, not one of those study for the classes I've signed up for this semester. Mostly I've been interested in LED Lights and what is actually going on inside those tiny little gadgets. So one hour later after browsing Wikipedia I find myself now an expert on Light-Emitting-Diodes. I could explain in big geeky terms just how they work but unless you understand the energy clouds of atoms that house electrons its all going to sound foreign to you. But trust me, its cool. I've been trying to find some light source for our fish tank and I've played with the idea of setting up my own LED array of different colors for the tank. My only issue with LED's is that as cool as they are they are nothing like natural light from the sun.
Our Neighbor is actually a plant science major at USU and is studing the effects of LED's on plants (this work may or may not be related to growing plants on the international space station). Until I make up my mind on how light the aquarium we're going to stick with these cool little sinking LED's we found at Micheal's craft store for 50%.