Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Hooray for Technology! : Part 1

Welcome to The Party of Two's newest blog series, "Hooray For Technology!", in which we examine the technologies that exist to simplify our lives.

For our first installment, let us pay homage to the debit card machine.  This particular piece of technology has made it possible for us to pay without cash at grocery stores, outlet malls, and gas stations.  In just a few simple, convenient steps, you're out the door with your purchases.




At this point, you should swipe the same card again, but from the bottom to the top instead.
The machine should accept the card after this attempt.  
If not, the cashier will try placing your debit card inside a plastic bag and swiping it through the bag.  This usually works.




 At this point you enter your pin number correctly.


At this point, you enter the same pin number again correctly.
The machine should accept it the second time, or at least the third or fourth time.












*If you DO happen to have coupons and you press yes, you should be prepared to see this screen:


Otherwise.....








At this point, you will enter your savings card number correctly.



At this point you will enter your savings card number correctly a second time.


























Stay tuned for another edition of "Hooray for Technology!"
Coming soon........

Monday, February 25, 2013

Crap We Did Instead of Blogging- 2012 in Review

Since I barely post anymore (I promise I'll try harder to post more often, as I get a lot of grief about it), AND because I don't have Facebook (which I also get a lot of grief about), I thought I would post a review of some of the stuff we were up to instead of blogging over the last year.

Winter brought the usual activities- XC skiing, snowshoeing, beer drinking......








Cody taught Angus how to downhill ski and he is a WHIZ!


In the springtime, we took the kids (Angus, Charlee, and Jimi) to Bruneau Sand Dunes for camping and fishing and dune climbing.








 *I have to add that I caught the Barney family record bass in my float tube- 18 inches! Two more inches and that bastard would've been on my mantle.*


Angus played soccer in the spring, so we went to some games and froze our faces off.  We were happy to do it, though, because Angus is a phenomenal soccer player.  Cody calls him "The Steel Curtain".



In June, our niece Holland turned 3........






Also in June came a new addition to the Barney family......
Our new boat!
I just happen to love the boat more than most people would love a human baby.  We had a lot of fun with the S.S. Bull Trout.com going fishing and camping and tubing and wakeboarding and beer drinking all summer long.










In July, Cody and I took a trip up to Tahsis, British Columbia to fish with our dear friends Gail and Leon Walters.  We didn't catch anything, but we saw some beautiful scenery and had a GREAT time!







I lied.  We caught prawns.  A lot of prawns.  As Jimi and Charlee would say, we caught a "butt-load" of prawns.  Delicious.....








In the fall, we enjoyed some fall fishing, football, and Halloween festivities.







I spent a month making Angus the Halloween costume he requested.....

It was fun and a huge hit, but the size and weight made it cumbersome for trick-or-treating and impossible to wear for long periods of time.  Next year I think he'll be a superhero or a ghost or something he can run in.  Ten year olds really like to move around.

I also took some time to make a birthday treat for Charlee's 15th birthday.


For Christmas, Cody and I hopped a plane to Vegas and went to the Las Vegas Bowl to watch the Broncos crush Washington.  We had a wicked good time.  I became addicted to penny slots.  Anyone wanna go to Jackpot?
Las Vegas is very festive at Christmas time! 





The Las Vegas Bowl was so much fun that it almost melted our faces off.



We checked out the wax museum.  In my head, this is not wax Johnny Depp.  In my head this is actual Johnny Depp and in my head, he is my other husband but instead of working he just hangs out with me all day long in his Captain Jack outfit.  In my head.





We also checked out Hoover Dam.



We even had a little Christmas decor in our room!


Since we rolled over to 2013, we've been just as busy as we were in 2012.  I've been making yummy birthday and holiday treats......






Over President's Day, we went to Island Park, Idaho to stay in a cabin with my family.  Rick and Britney (Jimi & Charlee's dad and stepmom) rented a gorgeous cabin and were nice enough to have us over to stay and play.  All my siblings were there.  We XC skiied, sledded, snowmobiled, and ate.  And ate.  And drank and ate.



It was the first time all 6 of us had been together since late 2011!  Mom would have loved this picture!







I guess that about wraps it up.  Now you know all the crap we've been doing instead of blogging.  If you hung around and read through till the end of this long-ass post......well maybe you should find a hobby or something.   Get a life, loser.......