At the end of our stay, we road a train around the grounds and were able to see a few more animals, including zebras and hippos, so that was neat.
After a couple of hours (and a whole lotta walking!), we left the zoo and headed home for about an hour to relax before driving to Pensacola for dinner. We ate at Miller's Pensacola Ale house, and wound up getting the entire meal (smoked fish appetizer, Cajun chicken pasta, chicken Parmesan, and a decadent chocolatey/caramel-ish, ice cream pie) for free because the chicken breast on John's plate wasn't fully cooked. The breast was huge and appeared to be well done on the outside, so we could see how it was an honest mistake. The server and manager (though it wasn't either of their fault) were very apologetic; I have a feeling that won't be happening again any time soon.
Once we finished dinner, I assumed we were going to walk around the mall or do a little driving around Pensacola. Or just go home because John and I were starting to feel the effects of being out in the sun for several hours. But we didn't. The restaurant we were at is located right next to Rooms to Go, and John asked if I wanted to go inside 'and walk around and dream' about furniture we'd like to buy.
When John and I first got married, we bought a bed and mattress (and eventually nightstands to match with gift cards) for our bedroom. We couldn't afford a dresser, so I just bought some of those plastic three drawer containers to store t-shirts, socks, underwear, etc. in our closet and hung everything else. The storage system, while inconvenient at times, worked out rather well, but I was still holding out for a dresser. The bed has held up nicely, but it's not the greatest quality, and since we've had to take it apart/put it back together several times when we've moved, we decided a new bed would need to be a purchased sometime in the next year.
We were given a table and chair set, too, and while it was in pretty good shape, it was old and some of the pieces (one of the chair backings, chair arm, etc) were broken and the table wobbly. This was more of a priority than the bed, since we've been planning on buying a new dining set 'one day' ever since we got married.
Well friends, that day finally came. I wasn't aware, but John had been planning on 'seriously looking' at a dining set at Rooms to Go on our anniversary. We walked all around the store before deciding on a counter height table and chair set. 'Counter Height' = those tables that are higher than a regular table. We also decided to go ahead and buy a new bedroom set that included a bed, two night stands, a dresser and mirror (yay, a dresser!!!), a matching TV stand, and a TV. The television actually came with the package, and since we already have one, we're probably just going to sell it. It's a 32'' Samsung, so if anyone knows someone who's in the market for a new tube, let me know!
Oh. How could I forget. We also got a new mattress. We definitely did not have intentions of doing that, but we were sort of-kind of-maybe considering buying a new one in the next year or two anyway, and it was on sale, and it felt oh-so-amazing-i'm-always-going-to-stay-in-it, and it came with a 15 year warranty that we just went ahead and threw it on our tab, too.
Since the financing is three years same as cash, and we can pay it off before the three years is up, we decided to pay the monthly payments until John gets his tax refund next year, we'll pay the rest of it off then!
I'm really excited about what we're getting and I'm so looking forward to using it all in the years to come! Expect pictures once it has all been delivered and set up!
