Dear Post Office

Dear United States Postal Service,

I have been very displeased with my service through the US Postal Service for the past few months. The first major incident was in September when my brother sent an iPhone from California to my home in Utah and when the package arrived the contents were gone, just a large, taped up spot on the front. When I reported this, the worker that I spoke with dismissed my concerns after she learned that the package was not insured, a service that my brother was never offered when sending the package. We reported this issue and after submitting an official request that this item be searched for, was never contacted again. This was a loss of about $150.

The second major incident was when my husband was sending a package through media mail to New York, this shipped in October. There were 54 magazines that he had sold on eBay and a few days after they were shipped we realized that the package must have opened, because a few of them returned to our address. Not all of them returned and we had to return all the money that the buyer had given us, because they had not received any of the magazines. This consequently cost us $90, the cost of the shipping, plus the sunk cost of the magazines. This was also very unfortunate because the packaging itself was approved by an employee at the postal office and we were told it was the sturdiest and best option for shipping.

The most recent incident was the most detrimental. I have been applying for a job in South Korea and after filling out and submitting all of the applications (background checks, apostilled documents, and passport copies included this was a cost of around $100) I went to the post office on November 5th and requested that it be shipped in whatever manner could assure that the documents arrived at their destination. I was assured that they would arrive in 5-10 days. I sent this document 1st class instead of priority or express because I was assured that first class mail should arrive just as securely.  20 days later, however, I was informed by my future employers that the documents never arrived and as my employers need time to file my documents for my visa, they may not arrive in time even if I am able to go about getting them filled out and sent again. This could cost me my employment.

This is unacceptable. I have never once been offered any sort of compensation or consolation for any of my loss and reporting issues has never had any impact on it either. I feel that if a service is paid for, i.e. delivering a package, then it should be fulfilled without having to buy all the add-ons, the add ons are for extra service, not the basic service. If I were to order food at a restaurant I would be given what I ordered, not told that because I didn't order dessert I wouldn't get my meal. I feel that my packages and envelopes should not be treated as disposable. If I wanted to rip up an envelope, put tape on it, and stick it my mailbox, I could do it without having to pay you to do it for me.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Pipkin

Things I enjoy

One summer I decided to be more thankful and so started to write thank you cards every week, including to companys that I appreciated. I started doing it again recently and have really enjoyed it.

Coupons from Earthbound Organic-- I buy their salad mixes, they are the only ones I can find with baby Kale

Winco's brand, HyTop gave me some generous coupons as well

The capitol

In celebration of having finally received and turned in my various papers that were needed for teaching in Korea, I decided to post some pictures from our visit to the capitol. We had to go in order to get a couple of documents "apostilled" (stamped with a letter that says they are real... and you pay $15 for each piece of paper). Daniel had never been, so it was fun.

I'll let you read between the lions on this one

I also made some delicious veggie sushi, one of my favorites.

It's a mystery to me

Things from the Fall

decorations from on our steps

we had too many brown eggs to fit all of them in our fridge

Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde--- it's a veritable whirlwind of mystery and suspense. In celebration of October, Halloween, and Daniel and my secret crush on Benedict Cumberbatch, we spent a lot of time watching scary movies and decorating things. What did you do?

Rice

Everytime that Daniel and I go into Winco we enjoy perusing the bulk items. Every week I try to get something fun and new for us to try out. We had been eyeing the "Forbidden Rice" for a while and finally broke down and decided to try some out. Then, after looking up recipes online, I was able to make something quite tasty.

recipe here

Hello Jade

Recently I have been watching my niece, and along the way I have taken a few pictures to illustrate her budding personality and some of the fun things we have been up to. If I had to describe Jade I would say she is:

The things they didn't tell me about marriage

Becca's Side

*You may waste a lot of time playing-- I love waking up next to Daniel and I never realized how much fun it could be. I rarely ever get to anything on time any more, because I revel in every minute that I can spend with Daniel.

*It's like having a best friend with you all the time-- never have to worry about what I'm doing, I'm hanging out with Daniel. We play games, act like little kids, plan our menus and our weekly activities.

*It's surprising how little and how much you can know about someone. Daniel and I can tele-communicate some things, like when we're watching a movie or walking around and someone says something that is only funny to the two of us, I can look over at him, see him look back at me and we laugh insanely. And yet, I learn something new about Daniel every day.

*Service is the best way to avoid anger. If I ever feel like I'm being ignored or under appreciated, it really means I have been thinking about myself too much. When I break out of this mindset and start helping others, I usually receive more appreciation anyway.

Daniel's side

*My standard of life improved like 1000%. I no longer have to make my own food, I have someone who cleans up my house, brings me breakfast in bed, drives me to and from school and work, gives me massages, and takes care of the finances and planning.

*Compromise. Sometimes I'm like "I wanna watch Science videos" and she's like "I wanna watch British romantic dramas" and then we watch "Sherlock". Compromise.

*I always have a captive audience. If I want someone who will laugh at my stupid puns, I tell them to Becca. If I want to brag about something cool I just did, Becca will give me a pat on the back. Even if she doesn't want to hear my stories, she has to listen because she's stuck with me for a while.

*It's easy. Everyone always told me how hard it was going to be, that we were going to fight all the time and learn to forgive each other. But I'm married to the best person in the world and we have never had a major argument, when we communicate it makes it even easier.

Happy 5 Months of blissful marriage!

The first picture together

Taken 2 months into dating

The night that Daniel proposed to me

Sky diving- because I wanted to do something crazy and Daniel is just supportive.

From our trip to Oregon

The Pipkin Monsters

Time for some vacation

Daniel and I recently went to Lagoon, thanks to NuSkin. The last time that I went to an amusement park was when I was 14 and so it was nice to go again. I remembered though that the reason I haven't gone to an amusement park is because I hate long lines, not a huge fan of amusement park food, and I'm terrified of heights. I didn't let any of this stop me from having a great time though, I ate the most unhealthy burger with baked bean paste (although I couldn't bring myself to finish my potato salad glob) and I rode almost every single ride in the park. Surprisingly, the one that was most terrifying was the ski lift that goes from one end of the park to the next (you could easily just slip out from under the railings AND they would stop indefinitely while you were dangling a hundred feet above everyone's heads, I almost peed my pants).

Daniel cleverly positioned my head onto the "o"

Daniel the hunchback

Yes, this was a kid's ride, but it looked SO cool at night

Not really that terrifying..

Family Time

I forgot that I had these photos hanging around, I was going to add some from the Labor Day visit that Jon made, but I never actually took any.

Daniel scaling up a sheer rock surface

It took Jon like 10 minutes before he could get that second leg up

Rocks are attractive...

Louis in a beautiful meadow up on Mt. Timp

Pretty lake up on top of a mountain

the Dream of the 90's

Daniel, Anna, Louis, Mom and I traveled to Vancouver/Portland this past weekend. All summer long I have been living off the fact that we would be able to go on a vacation before school started. We visited with Josh and Katie, as well as some cousins and a friend of mine. It was great fun.

I got to carry Vivienne. Check out that baby.

We went on a hike up to the top of this waterfall. It's called Multnomah falls. Last time we went  was a few (like 6) years ago. My mom kept saying it would take us all day. We were to the top and back in 45 minutes.

Daniel was squishing my head previous to this snapshot.

This is how I support my husband.

We went to a rose garden. Left to right, back: Hunter, Becca, Daniel, Louis; front: Mama, Anna, McKay, Katie, Vivienne (the baby)

Daniel has a cutie face

Daniel at the rose garden with some man in a hat.

Sushi is delicious. So delicious that Daniel has it conveyed directly into his mouth.

I just use my chopsticks.

At Powell's bookstore, it's a massive place and as you can see, Daniel is awe struck. I  happened upon some great Korean kids books here for pretty cheap, so Daniel and I can brush up on our Korean!

I thought this was priceless.

This is a group text that my mom attempted to send to me. Anna was on a paddle boat and had lent my mom her phone and during that time I had tried to call. I guess this explains why no one ever picked up, I particularly like the second recipient in this group text.