5 Instagram Stories

Two days ago we received a 'you missed a package' note in our mailbox. Both Andy and I put our heads together trying to remember if we had ordered anything. We had not. So yesterday I called the delivery place and asked if they could re-deliver the package. They redelivered asking if I was Ellie, 'yes, indeed that is me'. So I signed for it, opened it and discovered a mystery bottle of California sparkling wine. So far we have not been able to figure out who it came from. We are more than happy to drink it though! :) Happy weekend to us!

As most of you already know, Andy and I go on a lot of weekend adventures. Getting out and exploring the area is so much fun! I find myself getting situated in the car on Saturday mornings with my coffee, my camera, and my trusty phone with its Instagram. I looked through my Instagram photos recently and found a lot of pictures similar to above. Me, strapped in, heading out on our Saturday adventure. So I have decided to start a series. This is just one of many more to come!

Last week I wrote about Ida Frosk and the food art that she does. I thought it was fun and cute, but then forgot about it. On a particularly stressful day this week where my bike was stolen and I sliced through my finger while cutting vegetables, I didn't feel like cooking a 'real' meal so I threw these things together to eat. When I looked down at my plate I discovered they made a face! So I arranged the items a little nicer and snapped this picture. If you can't tell, the food items are lunch meat, english muffin with cream cheese, and cantaloupe. (Not a normal meal for me.)

This is our old bedroom, old office, old bedroom. If that makes sense... Yeah, we move our apartment around a lot. Our neighbors probably wonder what we are doing every weekend. We have a lot of space in our apartment and recently decided to turn this room into a rentable room on Airbnb. (The couch folds out into a queen sized bed.) It is our first time with Airbnb, so we are learning about it as we go. What fun though! We are booked straight through June. Every few days we get different visitors. They are from all over the US and World, and each are unique with their own quirks. When you live with someone, even just for a few days, you quickly learn about them. I am considering starting a blog just for Airbnb stories.

Bacon! Yes, who doesn't love bacon! Recently Andy snuck a bulk sized box of bacon into our grocery shopping cart. I have no idea how I missed that, not that I would have debated it though. So we have been eating a lot of bacon. Each breakfast that Andy has cooked over the last few weeks has had bacon in it. I asked him where all the bacon was coming from and he said we had bought it a few weeks ago. 'What?! I don't remember buying bacon.' So he told me to look in the freezer. There it was, taking up half of our freezer, a gigantic box of bacon! That sneaky man of mine...

'Annual' stories

I went for my annual check up yesterday. Or rather, that time of year that I spread my legs for a stranger and let them poke around my lady parts. We all dread it. The room is sterile, the doctors hands are always cold, and it seems to take an eternity rather than a few minutes.

Today though, I come to tell you other 'Annual' stories. One is warm and fuzzy while the other is just funny.

image via

The first story is my story. I lived in Korea teaching English a few years ago and during that time I was due for my annual. I had no idea how it was going to work out. I did some online searching for an English speaking woman doctor and found one! I read the expat reviews and they were all positive. So I scheduled an appointment, mapped my subway route, and headed out for my dreaded annual exam. When I arrived, they took my info and led me to a doctors room. A minute later a nurse walked in offering me coffee. Why thank you, yes I will drink some coffee while I wait to get my lady parts poked at! It was lovely and relaxing. Soon the doctor came in. She was very nice, gave me a flowery dressing gown and left the room. I put the gown on and realized that the room had no typical bed with stirrups...hmm I wondered how this was going to go down. The doctor came back and led me through a door to a room with calm music, mood lighting, a tv with nature scenes on it...and get this, a big fluffy furry recliner type of chair. She guided me to the chair and sure enough it was comfortable. Then she pushed a button and the recliner tilted back (like a dentist's chair) and she pulled out two VERY fluffy stirrups. I was in heaven! Coffee and a fluffy chair, what kind of place was this! In no time the doctor was finished with the exam and I was free to go...I didn't even feel a thing. The ladies at the front desk checked me out (Korean insurance paid for everything!) and I was good to go. It was like a day at the spa. Korean's know how an annual exam should be!

image via

The second story was told to me by my mother when I was younger. (A friend of her's maybe.) A woman was running late for her annual exam. At home she ran into the family bathroom and grabbed a wash cloth to give herself a quick clean before she left. When the doctor spread the woman's legs to do the exam he exclaimed, 'Oh I see you prepared!'. The woman was confused by the doctors comment, but paid no attention to it. Later that day the woman's daughter walked into the house with her cheerleader uniform on and glitter all over her face. Her daughter explained that glitter was a new thing the cheerleaders were doing. At that moment the lady remembered the doctors comment about 'preparing' for the exam. She ran to the bathroom and discovered the wash cloth she had used was covered in glitter.

So there you go. Two stories on the lighter side of getting your annual exam.