Friday, May 23, 2008

Camping the Studer Way

About a week ago the forecast for Memorial Day weekend was sunny and mid-70s. Perfect! Once we realized we both had a three day weekend and that it would be our last three day weekend before we have a newborn, we decided to go camping. Well... the Studer way of camping, as Davin informed me last time, is that it always rains! (Unless we join a group of other people in which case the curse of rain seems to be overruled.) A few years ago we camped out at Beacon Rock and nearly called it quits in the middle of the night because it was raining so hard that our drenched tent was starting to leak. I told him next time we need to camp my way... in the sun! As soon as we planned to go camping this weekend, the weatherman started changing his story. What? Now the forecast is for rain and upper-60s! Unfortunately, I too, am a Studer and I guess that means I cannot escape the camping curse of rain. If we cancel our trip I'm sure the forecast will change back to sun, but if we're going it's going to rain. Sorry, guys, we're going! So if you're joining us in the great outdoors this weekend, be sure to bring a tarp!
Pics from our trip:

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Conservation

I've been on a conservation kick, and I must admit it's not for the environment as much as it is for our budget. The bills are just so expensive! Our house is on oil heat, and for a partial winter in 06 we spent $1000 just to run the heat in the evenings. I was worried that this winter would cost close to $2000 since we lived in this house for the whole winter and the cost of oil is getting ridiculous. We bought space heaters and hung curtains to close in our living room area. It worked! With our recent oil fill we found out that we only used half as much oil in 07 as we did in 06. Our bill was under $500. With that big 600 gallon tank, we have enough oil to get us through a couple winters! I've also recently added gallon jugs in the toilet tanks to displace some water. That's the next huge bill we have. Water at our condo only cost $20/month, but here it's more like $80. Good grief! Every time I flush I think, "One gallon of water saved." I'm curious to see if we notice any change in the next bill.