Logan’s Birthday Dinner
Posted on July 14, 2012 by Ching under Family, Reviews.
Here are a few pictures from Logan’s birthday dinner at Kobe last night.
We had a wonderful dinner at Kobe. The Cannadys bought our dinner, which I felt bad about. We tried to pay our bill, but Jen quickly snagged it. At least we were still able to use our Groupon so our check was only $16 after gratuity. Neither Brian nor I drank last night so that helped to keep our bill to a minimum. Besides that, I think the prices are Kobe at pretty reasonable. I certainly think the restaurant offers a better value than Sumo. The only downside is that they no longer serve sushi. They offer a variety of appetizers, but no sushi. Maybe there just wasn’t enough demand for it in Derby. Who knows?
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Eli Finds His Way Home
Posted on July 14, 2012 by Ching under Family, Videos.
We met up with the Cannadys, mom, dad, Jenni, and a few of Logan’s friends at Kobe for Logan’s birthday dinner last night. Logan is growing up so fast. The days of Chuck E. Cheese birthday parties are long gone. He’s at that age now that he just wants to hang out with his friends. He’s still very polite and he is a well-behaved, well-mannered kid, but he doesn’t want as much to do with Brian and me.
Lucky for us, he has two younger brothers for us to dote on. Eli is at that perfect age. Young children between ages four and nine just adore Brian. Maybe because mentally they’re all the same age? Who knows?
Last night Eli wanted to sit next to Brian. We remember when he was a baby, up until the age of two or three, he wanted nothing to do with us. At dinner, he asked to sit next to Brian and still moved next to him after we played musical chairs with Jenni. It was so sweet.
Anyway, we were talking about having the boys over one weekend and he seemed to love the idea. So I jokingly asked if he wanted to spend the night at our house that night. Uh oh. Boo boo on my part, because that started him begging to stay with us. His mom explained that it’s Logan’s birthday and they were having a sleepover. He was getting pretty persistent and I was getting really worried that I was in trouble with his mom and dad for giving him the idea, but he eventually came to his senses. He asked his mom if we could at least give him a ride back to their house. He came up with that compromise on his own. None of the grownups suggested it. That’s one of the things I love best about the Cannady boys. They are smart. Kudos to the parents for raising such reasonable kids.
The drive from the restaurant to their house was quite entertaining. We wanted to test if Eli could find his way home so we let him sit in the front passenger seat and navigate us. I’m so glad I captured it in on video. We are going to enjoy this for years to come. (Sorry, Eli, but you are just too cute.)
Hansel and Gretel ain’t got nothin’ on this kid. Who needs bread crumbs when you can memorize the bumps on the road?
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You Can Learn Anything Through YouTube
Posted on July 11, 2012 by Ching under Confessions, Health, Videos.
I have a confession to make. I don’t know how to swim. Brian and I had the pool to ourselves on Friday night, so we took advantage of the opportunity for him to teach me how to swim. Wanna know how he did it? He did it by showing me a video on YouTube kind of like the one below.
This is proof that you can learn anything through YouTube. LOL.
When Jay and Misty were hanging out with us at the pool on Sunday and I was telling Jay about Brian teaching me how to swim, Jay argued that I actually knew how to swim already since I can float backwards, dog paddle and tread water. I told him I knew enough not to drown, but I didn’t know how to “swim” swim. He said that not drowning is swimming. If I didn’t know how to swim then I would drown. He explained that I didn’t know how to “freestyle” or do other swimming strokes, but that I actually knew how to swim.
I never had formal swimming lessons though (unless you count Brian showing me a video of a guy swimming on YouTube as a swimming lesson), and my idea of swimming is actually doing specific strokes. Not just treading water or dog paddling or floating backwards, which is something that I do when I get worn out.
Anyway, I need some more practice but I’m pretty sure that I’ll know how to swim for real by the end of summer. Not swimming in the way that Jay thinks, but really swimming like being able to freestyle and stuff. I’m super excited. I can’t wait to be able to swim laps. I hear it’s pretty good exercise.
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Reasons Why We Love Where We Live
Posted on July 9, 2012 by Ching under Reviews.
Are you new to Wichita? Are you looking for a place to live? If you are, consider Quarters at Cambridge on 21st and Webb. It’s the best place to live in Wichita, hands down. Allow me to list just a few of the reasons why we love living here.
Location. QC is conveniently located within walking distance to both Bradley Fair and Waterfront. It’s also walking distance to Target, Cabela’s, and World Market. There’s lots of great shopping, dining, and walking/biking paths in the area. One of our favorite things to do in the summer time is bike to Bradley Fair (sometimes we drive if we have a big cooler full of drinks and want to bring our lawn chairs) on Thursday nights for the jazz concerts. We also enjoy walking over to Baskin Robbins or Granite City. Makes us feel better about all the calories we consumed because we’re burning some of it by walking home.
The location is close to the finest schools (both public and private), churches, and major employment centers. There are three country clubs nearby, and there’s easy access to downtown and the rest of Wichita via the Northeast expressway.
We also love the apartment community’s proximity to our eye doctor, dentist, massage therapist, hair salon, and, yes, even my gynecologist. Everything is within walking distance. Northeast Wichita, specifically this area, is pretty much our haven. We have everything we need within easy reach.
Amenities. There is a huge clubhouse on the property that is great for parties, complete with full surround sound home theater system. Every now and then, the staff hosts movie nights there. There’s also a well-equipped exercise room that is open 24 hours with special code access. There’s a corporate boardroom and business center for meetings. The mailroom is climate controlled so you don’t have to get soaked picking up your mail when it’s raining or freeze your buns off in the winter. But the best part is the salt water swimming pool, which not many apartment complexes have.
Beautiful and Serene Surroundings. The community is so peaceful and the architecturally designed landscaping is beautiful. There are three lovely ponds on the property. And the common areas are well-maintained. Even the swimming pool area and clubhouse patio has beautiful plants and landscaping.
Security. After hours access is restricted by electronically controlled gates, which helps to keep vendors and solicitors out. There are also security cameras throughout the property. Brian and I even left our front door unlocked overnight one day and didn’t have any problems.
Washer and Dryer. All of the apartments, townhomes, and garden homes are finished with washers and dryers so you don’t have to leave your house to do laundry. No lugging and trekking laundry baskets to the laundromat or community laundry center. That is a great plus.
Several Floor Plans. There are several floor plan options (3 apartment floor plans, 2 townhome floor plans, and 4 different garden home options), all with modern open plan layout so you’re not separated from everyone when you’re cooking. It’s great for entertaining. Some of the units have fireplaces, which is great for those cold winter nights. The townhomes and garden homes have garages. Car ports are also available.
Personally, I like the townhomes the best. The two bedrooms upstairs both have en-suite bathrooms so you pretty much have two master bedrooms, which is perfect for roommate situations. There’s a half bath (water closet) downstairs so your guests don’t have to go upstairs and use you private bathroom.
Great Insulation and Sound-Proofing. Unlike other apartments we’ve lived in, the walls are insulated and sound-proofed really well. Your neighbors have to be really loud in order for you to hear them. Lower utility bills are another added benefit of the good insulation. Speaking of utility bills, all units have a programmable thermostat, which can save you a lot of money when used properly.
Online Resident Portal. I love the online resident portal. You can pay rent electronically so you don’t have to mail it or drop it off at the office. You can preschedule a one-time payment or set up recurring payments. It’s really convenient. The online portal also allows you to submit maintenance requests, so you don’t have to call the office unless it’s absolutely necessary.
House Cleaning Service. They have house cleaning service on staff, so you don’t have to hire a third party cleaning service whose credentials are uncertain. The cleaning service rates are very reasonable also and they do a great job. As an added bonus, you get free carpet and house cleaning whenever you renew your lease (or annually, if you’re crazy like Brian and me and decide to sign a 30-month lease – yes, that’s how much we love this place).
Excellent Customer Service. If you don’t believe me, check the reviews. Quarters at Cambridge is the only place I know in Wichita with a 100% recommendation rating. Customer service was probably the biggest deciding factor for us when we were looking for a place to live a few years ago. All the other things I mentioned above were just icing on the cake. We chose this place based on all the wonderful reviews about how responsive and friendly the employees are, which we experienced for ourselves after moving in. Almost all maintenance issues are resolved either the same day or the next day. At least from our experience.
They’ve taken cared of raising the height of the light fixture above our dining table, replacing burned out lightbulbs, fixing a broken toilet, dusting the ceiling fan in the living room (we have vaulted ceilings), replacing the batteries on our smoke detectors, and even hanging our curtains. They even came out at 11 in the evening to fix the AC when it wasn’t working. I’ve heard horror stories at places where it routinely takes a couple of weeks to get things fixed. Not so here. They do regular preventative maintenance, and respond quickly when repairs are needed.
I used to have to nag Brian for several weeks before he’d take care fixing broken stuff around the house. Now we just pick up the phone or submit a maintenance request through the resident portal and it’s fixed almost immediately. That has really alleviated a lot of strain on our relationship. I no longer have to nag him, and he doesn’t have to resent me for it. LOL.
Did I mention that they give you a birthday card signed by all the staff members and a gift certificate redeemable at Cambridge Market every year on your birthday? The staff is really thoughtful and friendly.
This place is so awesome that most people don’t leave after moving in. They really spoil you. Many people have lived here for five years or more. I know some people who have lived here for a decade. We got to meet some of our neighbors at the pool, at community events, and at the annual summer barbecues hosted by the apartment management. The management does a good job of screening residents so it’s really a community of fabulous people. We’ve yet to meet anyone we didn’t like. Saying that this is the perfect place to live in Wichita is not an exaggeration. Check out Quarters at Cambridge. I promise, you won’t regret it.
P.S. The apartment has a great referral program so if you do decide to move in, please be sure to tell them that the Brubakers referred you. 😉
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Back at the Dentist
Posted on July 7, 2012 by Ching under Health, Invisalign.
DR. P: You sure did.
Brian’s new crown broke less than 24 hours after they were installed. I’m not sure what happened, but I noticed them while we were eating Marble Slab and walking around the Bradley Fair pond that Sunday. The very next Monday, Brian called the dentist to tell them what happened. Instead of getting an emergency appointment, he figured he would just go the same time that I was scheduled to return for new teeth impressions for my Invisalign (which was yesterday). I’m going to tell you about the Invisalign in a bit, but let me tell you about Brian’s teeth first.
Brian initially thought that they would have to take the crown off and replace it with a new one, which would take a couple of hours. As luck would have it, Dr. P was able to fix the chip by simply reshaping the crown. However, that made the tooth smaller than the one next to it so it didn’t look right. The dentist then than to shape the other tooth to make them even. On the plus side, it didn’t take two hours for them to do all of that work. Brian actually finished before I did. Here’s the end result.
As for me, I originally thought that I was completely done with the Invisalign trays for my top teeth and only had one more month left on my bottom teeth. Unfortunately, I have one stubborn bottom tooth that’s not tracking properly so they had to take new impressions and they’re going to give me new aligning trays. While they’re at it, they’ve decided that they want to tweak one of my top front teeth so it’s even straighter. Meaning, I have to keep my Invisalign braces for a few more months. Instead of being finished with my top braces (which I thought I was several weeks ago), I get new ones of those too. I’m not sure how many more, though.
On the plus side, the dentist had to remove my aligning buttons to get new dental impressions and they won’t put buttons back on until I get the new trays. That’s nice because then the trays aren’t as tight making them easier to put on and take off; and, I won’t have weird buttons on my teeth for a while. The down side is that it may be a while before I’m done with my braces.
Although, from the sounds of it, it doesn’t look like I’ll ever be completely free of these trays. The appointment before the one yesterday, when I thought I was almost done, the dentist said that I would have to wear my retainers every night for the next five years even after I’m done with my braces. This is to keep the teeth from shifting back to where they were. Just as Brian and I don’t ever want to be fat again, I don’t want my teeth to ever be crooked again, so I’m certain that I will be heeding the dentist’s advice and strictly following their instructions.
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